Transportation Security Administration officers stopped a Virginia man from bringing a loaded 9mm handgun onto a flight at Dulles International Airport, the agency said Friday.

       The man, from Troutville, Va., was stopped Thursday while going through airport security. TSA officers said the gun had seven bullets, including one in the chamber.

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       The TSA alerted Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, who confiscated the gun and cited the man, who faces a federal civil penalty for carrying a firearm to a TSA checkpoint, the agency said. The TSA did not identify the man.

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       TSA officers have caught 18 guns at Dulles this year, up from seven at the same time last year. Between 2017 and 2019, officers recovered 19, 17 and 19 guns each year, respectively.

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       In mid-October, TSA officials said the agency had caught nearly 4,500 firearms across the nation, marking a 20-year record. The discoveries equated to a rate of 11 guns found in carry-on bags for every 1 million passengers screened, the TSA said. The previous annual record of 4,432 guns was set in 2019.

       Carrying weapons to airport checkpoints carries various federal civil penalties depending on circumstances, the federal agency said. The amount of the fine the Virginia man faces in the most recent case was not released.

       Passengers can travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at the airline ticket counter, the TSA said.