TSA sees rise in variety of firearms at security checkpoints

“I forgot.”

That is the primary reason Transportation Security Administration agents say they hear at airport security checkpoints after they catch a passenger with a firearm.

Of the 5,832 firearms stopped to date this 12 months, as of Monday, nearly 88% were loaded, in keeping with the TSA. The full number is quickly catching as much as last 12 months’s record of 5,972 – or roughly 17 guns a day.

The news comes ahead of the busiest travel time of the 12 months – when nearly 55 million Americans are estimated to be traveling this Thanksgiving, in keeping with AAA – just shy of pre-pandemic levels. 

“It’s extremely concerning because firearms are prohibited within the checkpoint – and positively onboard the aircraft,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CNBC. “We have seen a rise nationally…  [and in] parts of the country where open carry and concealed weapons permits are higher, [that] generally indicates we’ll find higher weapons at our checkpoints.”

It’s legal to travel with a firearm – but provided that it’s declared with the airline before the flight, unloaded and packed accurately inside checked luggage. In accordance with the TSA, passengers caught with guns were fined $52 million in civil penalties over the past three years.

“I even have total confidence in our transportation security officers to stop these,” said Steve Wood, the Federal Security Director for the TSA in Tennessee. “But we’d like the general public’s assist in not bringing them.”

Atlanta tops the list since it’s such a big airport, Pekoske said. “There’s just more people moving through Atlanta airport.”

Thus far, Atlanta is 100 shy of last 12 months’s record of 507. Nonetheless, three of the highest 5 airports on the list – DFW, IAH and BNA – have already broken records for the variety of firearms stopped at security checkpoints in 2022.

Just last month, Nashville’s airport broke a record with the variety of firearms present in a single 12 months at 170, beating last 12 months’s record of 163. That number has since jumped to 185.

“We have moved up on the list – from number 6 to number 5 after which number 4,” Wood said.

A part of the explanation, he says, is that in July 2021, the firearm laws modified in Tennessee to not require a permit to hold a firearm. “During that first month we saw 25 firearms – which was the most important month we have ever had,” Wood told CNBC.

In accordance with TSA officials the variety of firearms intercepted at Nashville is 2.5 times higher than the national rate – or, one firearm for nearly 37,799 passengers screened. 

It shouldn’t be a federal criminal offense to bring a firearm to a checkpoint. Nonetheless, the agency has the authority to impose a federal civil penalty against those that do.

In accordance with the TSA, getting caught with a firearm carries a civil wonderful of $1,500. If the gun is loaded, that figure jumps to $3,000. For repeat offenders, the fines can go as high as nearly $13,910.

“It’s a really expensive mistake, and it’s a really time consuming mistake as well,” Pekoske said. “It’s extremely likely that you’re going to not give you the chance to fly on the flight you had originally reserved, and sometimes passengers aren’t even in a position to fly that day, depending on the flight schedules out of the airport.”