It’s a number we anxiously wait for each year.
And it’s a number that sadly keeps going up.
In its annual Year in Review, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today shared the tally of the number of firearms its officers found at airport checkpoints around the country all last year.
The total: an alarming and record-setting 4,432 firearms were found at airport security checkpoints in 2019.
That’s an average of 85.2 firearms per week, or 12.1 firearms per day.
It’s also a 5% increase the 4,239 firearms discovered at airport checkpoints in 2018.
Here are some more stats from TSA’s 2019 firearm finds:
*Of the 4,432 firearms found, 3,863 were found loaded. And1,507 of those firearms had a round loaded.
*TSA found guns at 278 of the country’s 440 federalized airports, but firearms showed up more often at some airport than others.
Here are the Top Ten Airports where the most firearms were found:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 323. That’s 25 more firearms than were found at ATL in 2018
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): 217
- Denver International Airport (DEN): 140
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): 138
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX): 132
- Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL): 103
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL): 100
- Nashville International Airport (BNA): 97
- Orlando International Airport (MCO): 96
- Tampa International Airport (TPA): 87
For the record, firearms aren’t allowed past airport security checkpoints. But TSA says many firearms owners say “Oops, I forgot that was in my bag,” when their weapons are found at the airport.
Being caught with a gun at the airport can get you arrested, fined more than $13,000 per violation and cause you to lose your TSA Precheck status, should you have that.
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