It's legal to carry an unloaded firearm in checked luggage on flights as long as passengers notify the airline.
The Los Angeles Times says Alaska Airlines wasn't notified about the .38-caliber handgun that tumbled out of a duffel bag being loaded onto a Portland-bound flight on Sunday morning. The gun owner, whose name hasn't been released, was questioned by police and was allowed to board a later flight for Oregon.
Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lorie Dankers says the bag passed screening for explosives.
She says the TSA screens for firearms in carry-on luggage but adds it's not the agency's responsibility to detect firearms in checked luggage.
