Chris Nanos tried to take a loaded and undeclared gun through a Tucson Airport TSA checkpoint.
April 4 2026, Published 6:17 p.m. ET
Bumbling Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is under fire again, this time for allegedly trying to take a loaded firearm through a TSA checkpoint, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The embattled lawman, who has been accused of badly botching the Nancy Guthrie abduction investigation, allegedly had the undeclared loaded weapon in a carry-on bag when he was stopped in 2024, and a Tucson resident is demanding answers as to why it didn’t get more media attention at the time.
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Chris Nanos Accused of Getting Special Treatment for No Arrest
Chris Nanos wasn’t arrested for trying to bring a loaded, undeclared firearm through a TSA checkpoint.
Longtime Tucson resident Cory Stephens told Fox News Digital she complained to the Pima County Board of Supervisors at a public meeting on November 12, 2024, alleging that Nanos faced no repercussions for the airport incident.
“If a private citizen had encountered that at the airport, the consequences would have been greater,” Stephens noted to the outlet.
The woman claimed she only found out about the TSA checkpoint incident involving Nanos from “local circles” and brought the situation up at the board meeting after not hearing anything about it via local news outlets.
“We as citizens want answers. The safety of our community is at stake,” she expressed in her phone interview.
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‘He Should Know the TSA Rules’
A Tucson resident tried to draw attention to the incident when it happened in November 2024.
Fox News Digital tracked down the incident report showing a TSA X-ray technician at Tucson International Airport’s B Concourse saw the gun in the Nanos’ bag, and flagged an officer on November 6, 2024, less than a week before Stephens brought it up at the board meeting.
Upon inspecting the weapon, airport police discovered one round in the chamber and five more in the magazine. The incident caused Nanos to miss his flight, and he hopped on a later one after securing the gun in his vehicle.
“As a law enforcement officer, he should know the TSA rules, how to declare a weapon, secure it, and follow the same rules as everyone else,” Stephens said.
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‘The Firearm Was Not Artfully or Purposely Concealed’
The officer who handled the incident reported it to the Department of Homeland Security and FBI.
According to the police report, Nanos was brought to a private screening room where his backpack and the weapon were examined.
“I located the loaded Glock firearm with 5 live rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber and rendered the firearm safe,” the officer wrote, noting that “The firearm was not artfully or purposely concealed.”
Nanos’ name and date of birth were run through communications and came back negative for wants or warrants.
The officer read Nanos his Miranda rights, although it didn’t appear he was ever placed under arrest, and he called up his chain of command, as well as DHS and FBI officials, to advise them of the situation. That appeared to be the end of the case.
READ MORE ON TRUE CRIME NEWS
FBI Veteran Baffled by Chris Nanos’s Airport Firearm Incident
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Savannah Guthrie’s mom Nancy has been missing without a trace since February 1.
How Nanos handled the airport gun incident baffled retired FBI agent and Fox News contributor James Gagliano.
He pointed out that members of law enforcement can declare themselves as such “ahead of time” and then fly with their weapons.
Gagliano said all the protocol requires is a confirmation between the TSA and the officer’s individual agency, “but typically allows active-duty personnel to fly with their weapons.”
Nanos has been under fire ever since bursting onto the national spotlight following Guthrie’s abduction on February 1.
He has been accused of releasing the crime scene too early, giving the media conflicting information, not cooperating with the FBI, and other alleged missteps, as Today co-host Savannah Guthrie‘s 84-year-old mom remains missing more than two months later.
There have been no significant leads in the case, and no suspects, causing Republican congressional candidate Daniel Butierez to launch a recall effort against Nanos on March 12, calling the sheriff a national “embarrassment.”
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