TSA finds more than 300 loaded guns at airport security checkpoints in October
Washington DC November 13 2018
The Transportation Security Administration has said it confiscated more than 300 loaded guns at airport security checkpoints around the country in October.
In a blog post on Friday, the TSA outlined its stats for the month: 358 firearms in carry-on bags were discovered at 105 airports around the U.S., 300 of them loaded and 133 of them with a chambered round.
The agency said that in most cases, people claim they forgot they had the gun in their bag.
Trying to bring a firearm through security can result in a fine of more than $13,000.
Most frequently, the confiscated guns appeared to be hand guns.
TSA will confiscate firearms whether they are novelty items that shoot toothpicks, as on the left, or real, as on the right.
TSA will confiscate firearms whether they are novelty items that shoot toothpicks, as on the left, or real, as on the right. (Transportation Security Administration)
“It can be difficult to tell on the X-ray if a firearm is real or just a novelty item,” the agency wrote on its website. “When a suspected firearm is discovered at the security checkpoint, screening is stopped until law enforcement is able to secure the item.”
That process can cause long lines and significant screening delays.
“Real, replicas or items resembling firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags,” the TSA advises. “You may transport unloaded firearms in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage only.
The agency found nearly 4,000 firearms at security checkpoints last year, averaging almost 11 per day.
