Airport Baggage Handler Accused of Stealing Bag Containing Checked Firearm

It's absolutely possible to fly within the United States with a firearm. It's just a pain in the butt to do so, and I sure don't want to trust it. After all, at least some airlines have a history of making it blatantly obvious that a bag has a firearm in it. That's just inviting theft to happen. I don't know that it happens that often, mind you, but the possibility alone is sufficient reason for me to prefer driving, even if it takes me days longer.

And, honestly, no one can tell us it never happens.

Not after this story, at least.

A baggage handler at Portland International Airport is accused of stealing a passenger’s bag containing a gun and ammunition.

Port of Portland police and the FBI tracked the stolen gun using the passenger’s Apple AirTag to a black Puma backpack found on the ground in an employee parking lot, near where Terell Wayne Overton was stopped on Sunday.

Police had received multiple calls from airline passengers who were traveling through PDX last month, reporting that their guns did not arrive at their destinations and were missing, according to a federal affidavit.

Overton, 51, is accused of being a felon with a gun and theft of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Portland.

He was arrested the day an airline passenger called PDX to report the theft of a Glock 9mm semiautomatic handgun. The passenger had placed the gun in a locked case within their checked baggage for an Alaska Airlines flight to Oakland. Once the passenger touched down in Oakland, the bag never arrived, according to the affidavit.

The passenger reported placing an Apple AirTag inside the gun case and it was transmitting its location within the Alaska Airlines’ baggage handling area in Portland.

Investigators who attempted to locate the bag learned that the AirTag was signaling the bag was at the employee shuttle bus pickup area around 2:30 p.m., where they found Overton boarding and carrying two bags, the affidavit said.

Let's call it a win for Apple AirTags.

Now, I have questions here. First, why was a felon hired to handle people's luggage at an airport? I mean, yeah, I happen to think we need to give people second chances, but that doesn't mean every job should be open to felons who haven't proven themselves trustworthy. Handling baggage, where people transport a lot of belongings and money, seems like a bad idea. Did he lie about it? Had he worked his way into the position by earning trust, only to allegedly betray it?

Again, I have questions.

Second, did he know there was a gun in the bag? As it stands, his charges are that he was in possession of a firearm as a felon, but just having the bag in and of itself would warrant those charges. But did he know?

For what it's worth, he isn't the first baggage handler at PDX to face charges for stealing guns.

At the end of the day, though, what we know is that someone had his gun stolen and was fortunate to use Apple AirTags in his baggage; otherwise, it would potentially have been lost forever.

And people wonder why I don't fly with my guns.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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