Last Year A Record Number Of Firearms Were Discovered At Airport Security Checkpoints

by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton

January 17, 2024

When a firearm is found at a safety checkpoint, brokers contact native legislation enforcement, and the gun and the passenger are eliminated.

The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) launched an alarming determine concerning firearms being taken to U.S. airports in 2023.

Final yr, TSA found a complete of 6,737 firearms at airport safety checkpoints. The weapons had been screened earlier than passengers had been allowed in airports and aboard flights. The company additionally said that out of the firearms recovered on the checkpoints, 93% of them had been loaded with ammunition. Final yr’s complete variety of weapons discovered set a file that surpassed the earlier yr’s excessive of 6,542 firearms stopped at checkpoints.

“We’re nonetheless seeing far too many firearms at TSA checkpoints, and what’s notably regarding is the quantity of them loaded, presenting an pointless danger to everybody on the TSA checkpoint,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske stated in a written assertion. “Firearms and ammunition are strictly prohibited in carry-on baggage. Passengers are solely allowed to journey with an unloaded firearm in the event that they pack it correctly in a locked, hard-sided case of their checked baggage and first declare it to the airline on the check-in counter.”

The information collected by the company reveals that 6,737 firearms had been found throughout 265 airports. The highest 10 airports with probably the most firearms recovered had been:

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport – 451 seizures
Dallas/Fort Price Worldwide Airport – 378
Intercontinental Airport of Houston – 311
Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport – 235
Nashville Worldwide Airport – 188
Denver Worldwide Airport – 178
Orlando Worldwide Airport – 164
Tampa Worldwide Airport – 144
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood Worldwide Airport – 135
Dallas Love Subject – 125

When a firearm is found at a safety checkpoint, brokers contact native legislation enforcement, and the gun and the passenger are eliminated. Relying on the jurisdiction, the passenger could also be arrested and cited by native authorities. TSA does institute penalties on passengers, which can embrace a high-quality of as much as roughly $15,000, and TSA PreCheck® eligibility being revoked for a minimum of 5 years. They might additionally conduct enhanced screening to make sure no different threats are current.