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Girl detained on airport over design on handbag

A teenage girl’s sense of fashion got her into trouble on an American airport when she was detained by security because of the design on her handbag.

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Gibbs’ purse drew more attention than she bargained for when its metal-embossed gun design was called a “federal offence” by security officials in Norfolk.

She was detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and missed her flight.

A TSA agent reportedly told Gibbs that the gun design on her purse was illegal and that she should either give up her bag or check it.

The agents realised later that the three-inch gun design was not a real weapon but the pregnant Gibbs had already missed her flight to Jacksonville and had to be rerouted through Orlando.

"I carried this [bag] from Jacksonville to Norfolk, and I've carried it from Norfolk to Jacksonville. Never once has anyone said anything about it until now. It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it,” Gibbs told the local media.

“Common sense,” Gibbs added. “It’s a purse, not a weapon.”