While it might be easy to forget keys or a water bottle in one's bag before going through airport-security screening, some travelers intentionally try to board with much more dangerous items.
According to a note from the Transportation Security Administration, the number of firearms and other weapons confiscated during the security process is on track to set a record this year.
Related: TSA says 'too many' people accidentally x-ray their pets when going through security
The number of firearms confiscated in 2023 through September was 5,072. The government agency confiscated 6,542 such items in 2022, and if things continue at their current pace, the year-end figure will set a record.
A Connecticut man was arrested by Port Authority Police today after @TSA detected this loaded gun in his carry-on bag at a @LGAairport checkpoint. The high number of people who continue to bring their guns to airport checkpoints is staggering. Guns can't be carried onto flights! pic.twitter.com/cJyo48m4wa
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) October 3, 2023
Confiscated guns: 20 a day, 94% loaded
During the summer between July and September the TSA confiscated 1,820 firearms, an average of 19.8 a day, at various security checkpoints across the country. Of that total, more than 94% were loaded.
More Travel:
- A new travel term is taking over the internet (and reaching airlines and hotels)
- The 10 best airline stocks to buy now
- Airlines see a new kind of traveler at the front of the plane
The areas leading up to security checkpoints have multiple signs reminding passengers to separate out any firearms and that not doing so could lead to confiscation, a civil penalty of as much as $15,000 and loss of any pre-check status.
A traveler who tries to improperly bring a gun through security will face only civil penalties in states in which the law allows concealed carry.
In New York, any gun brought through security and held by an owner who does not have a special permit will be destroyed, and the owner will also be subject to criminal charges.
The rules for firearms at airports
"Passengers may travel with a firearm, but it must be in their checked baggage,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske.
"Firearms are only permitted in checked baggage, unloaded in a locked hard-sided case and must be declared to the airline when checking the bag at the ticket counter.
"Firearms are prohibited at security checkpoints, in the secure area of an airport or in the passenger cabin of an aircraft even if a passenger has a concealed carry permit or is in a constitutional carry jurisdiction."
Along with firearms, the TSA also confiscates thousands of other dangerous items in the course of the year.
Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokesperson for the Northeast region, recently drew attention to a full-sized axe that was found inside a traveler's bag when it went through the x-ray machine.
"We certainly don't want anyone to think that there's an axe murderer on board a flight, and since an axe can certainly be a dangerous deadly weapon, please pack it in a checked bag not a carry-on bag," Farbstein wrote.
At the start of October, the agency also put out a note saying that "too many" passengers accidentally leave dogs, cats and other animals that may travel in the cabin inside carriers as they go through an x-ray machine.
The radiation from the machine is not intended to scan living beings. Travelers should always take their pets out of their carriers and carry them through the metal detectors.
