Security official brings gun to airport

Security agents at New Mexico's largest commercial airport caught a state Homeland Security official bringing a loaded gun through a checkpoint, police said. Anita Tallarico, New Mexico Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, was cited for unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon after Transportation Safety Administration agents saw a handgun in her purse as it passed through a scanner at the Albuquerque International Sunport Friday, KOB-TV reported. Tallarico said she neglected to leave her gun at home, adding she was on her way to a funeral and distraught, a police report says. Sunport's Chief of Police Marshall Katz said although the incident involved the state's second-in-command of security, occurrences such as this are not uncommon. "Episodes like this happen on a regular basis nationwide, not just in Albuquerque," he said. Tallarico's handgun was turned over to the Albuquerque Police Department as evidence.