2 men freed after guns found in bags at airport

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP) — Two men have been released after a prosecutor said weapons found in their luggage in separate incidents at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut were not a threat.

The Hartford Courant reports an Enfield judge dropped charges Wednesday against 81-year-old Joseph Hunt of Merritt Island, Fla. A prosecutor said Hunt put the unloaded 9mm pistol in his checked baggage and believed Connecticut was part of a multistate compact including Florida that allowed properly permitted and packed guns to be transported on airplanes. He was charged Tuesday with tampering with airport equipment and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Thirty-four-year-old Stefan Tsikhotskit of Wheeling, Ill., was freed on $100 bail when the prosecutor said a BB gun found in his checked bag was a toy. He was arrested Tuesday on a charge of tampering with airport equipment.

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Information from: The Hartford Courant