The Transportation Security Administration found a record-setting 6,737 guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023, the agency announced Wednesday. The number of firearms found by TSA officers last year surpassed the previous year’s record of 6,542 guns and was the highest annual total for the agency since it was created in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The agency said approximately 93% of the weapons were loaded, which TSA Administrator David Pekoske said was “concerning.”
“We are still seeing far too many firearms at TSA checkpoints, and what’s particularly concerning is the amount of them loaded, presenting an unnecessary risk to everyone at the TSA checkpoint,” Pekoske said in a statement.
More than 1,100 guns were found at just three airports, the TSA said. Officers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the nation’s busiest, found 451 firearms in carry-ons last year, more than any other airport in the country, according to the agency. At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, officers found 378 guns, the second most, and 311 were found at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport for the third most.
The TSA’s chief reminded travelers that guns and ammunition are “strictly prohibited” in carry-on bags.
“Passengers are only allowed to travel with an unloaded firearm, and only if they pack it properly in a locked, hard-sided case in their checked baggage and first declare it to the airline at the check-in counter,” Pekoske said.
The agency said it doesn’t confiscate guns, but it does contact local law enforcement agencies to take passengers and guns away from checkpoints. Whether people are arrested or cited is up to local authorities, the TSA said.
People who bring guns to checkpoints face a fine of up to $14,950 and losing eligibility in the expedited screening program TSA PreCheck for at least five years, the agency said.
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