Utahn released in gun incident

An Army reservist accused of trying to board an airplane with a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage will be released from custody, pending trial.

Richard Alan Boyce appeared before U.S. Magistrate David Nuffer on a single charge of carrying a dangerous weapon on an aircraft. Boyce, 41, was arrested Sunday after security screeners at the Salt Lake City International Airport allegedly said they found the firearm in the Ogden man's bag.

Boyce, a self-employed nurse anesthetist and a major with an Air Force Reserve unit out of Denver, was attempting to travel to St. George on SkyWest Airlines.

According to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah, Nuffer determined that Boyce need not be detained pending resolution of the case and imposed a number of release conditions, including that he not leave the state of Utah, not use any controlled substance except as prescribed by a doctor, submit to random drug testing and surrender his concealed-carry firearm permit.

Boyce is scheduled to be back in Utah's federal court on April 22 for arraignment.