It was alarming to learn that during 2017, the Transportation Security Administration found a record setting 3,957 firearms in carry-on bags at airport checkpoints.
That was 16.7 percent (556 more) firearms than found in 2016, when ‘only’ 3,391 firearms were found.
Will 2018 see a dip in the number of firearms passengers bring to the security checkpoints?
Not likely: It’s only February and another record has been broken: between February 5th and 11th, TSA found a record breaking 104 firearms in carry-on bags. Of those 104 firearms, 87 were loaded and 38 had a round chambered.
The previous week-long record? 96 firearms found during one week in July 2017.
As the busy summer travel season kicks into high gear and tips for travelers roll out from here and there, here’s one helpful piece of advice gun owners should heed: make sure you remove your firearms from purses, pockets and satchels before heading to the airport.
It seems impossible in this era of terrorism alerts and heightened attention to travel safety, but people keep taking their firearms with them to the airport.
Last week TSA officers discovered a record 82 firearms in carry-on bags at airports around the country.
Of those record 82 firearms discovered, 66 were loaded and and 18 had a round chambered
That eclipses the record of 81 firearms found during one week in August 2016 and tied in March 2017.
Most travelers found with firearms in their carry-ons say they simply forgot they had those weapons with them. Others may just be using that excuse to evade serious repercussions when caught
In some states, and under certain circumstances, nothing much happens to travelers found with firearms in their carry-ons; they’re simply told to put their guns elsewhere (Their parked cars, maybe? Or to send them home with a friend?) In some cases, though, travelersbringing firearms to the checkpoint can be arrested and fined up to $11,000.
There’s got to be something wrong with the fact that, on the heels of the havoc caused by false reports of gunfire at JFK Airport, and after so many years of being reminded that it is prohibited to take firearms through airport security checkpoints, the TSA reports yet another record breaking week for discovering firearms in carry-on bags at the nation’s airport security checkpoints.
According to the TSA’s blog, between August 12 and August 18, TSA officers found 81 (!!) firearms in passengers’ carry-on bags. Of those 81 firearms, 70 were loaded and 30 had a round chambered.
My At the Airport column on USA TODAY this month takes a look at the TSA’s 2015 Year in Review, which reveals some alarming statistics about the number of guns, knives and potentially explosive things that passengers try to bring onto airplanes.
The rundown:
In 2015 TSA found a record 2,653 firearms in carry-on bags at airport checkpoints.
That was an increase of 20% over the number of firearms found in 2014.
2,198 of the firearms (82.8%) found at checkpoints in 2015 were loaded, many with a round in the chamber.
The most guns – 153 – were found at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The Top 10 list continues with:
ATL: 144
IAH: 100
DEN: 90
Phoenix Sky Harbor: 73
Nashville International and Seattle-Tacoma International: 59 each
Dallas Love Field: 57
Austin-Bergstrom International: 54
Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport:52
See more photos – including the bear mace, sword canes and the meat slicer someone tried to take onto an airplane – in my January 2016 At the Airport column on USA TODAY.
Signs like this are now posted at airports in Houston.
There’s a new “open carry” gun law in Texas that allows legally licensed handgun owners to openly carry a holstered gun in public.
But, as the Houston Airport System memo notes, “there still are some restrictions in certain locations, including at airports.”
A statement outlining what the new state rules mean for passengers and employees at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) and Ellington Airport (EFD) – and other airports in the state – reminds travelers that gun owners with properly licensed and displayed guns (as well as gun owners with licenses for concealed weapons) “can have their gun in public areas only, like baggage, ticketing, garages and public sidewalks or walkways.”
Federal law still prohibits passengers from bringing weapons to or past airport security checkpoints and the TSA is permitted to issue fines to travelers found with loaded or unloaded guns.
But an amendment to the Texas handgun licensing law that went into effect in September says a passenger found with a licensed gun at an airport checkpoint won’t be subject to felony charges as long as the gun was taken to the airport by accident (the explanation the TSA says most everyone caught with a gun at an airport seems to give) and as long as the passenger immediately takes their gun away from the secure area when it’s found.
The TSA issues a weekly report of the number of firearms (and other prohibited items) found at airports checkpoints and does an annual year-end tally.
Three Texas airports – DFW, and both George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airport in Houston – were in the TSA’s list of “Top 10 Airports for Gun Catches in 2014.”
Open carry laws in many other states already permit licensed gun owners to bring firearms into the public areas of airports and in June a man dropping his daughter off at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International made national news by walking through the airport carrying an AR-15 rifle.
