The Transportation Security Administration is on pace this year to again break the record for the number of guns intercepted at airport security checkpoints, underscoring a persistent challenge for security officials amid brisk gun sales in the United States.
So far this year, T.S.A. officers have already discovered more than 4,600 guns at airport checkpoints, and about 87 percent of them were loaded, according to the agency. Last year, the T.S.A. found nearly 6,000 guns at airport checkpoints, which itself was a record. The number of guns discovered at security checkpoints has been trending upward for more than a decade, with the only decrease coming during the pandemic.
The slew of guns found at the nation’s airports this year have come as air travel in the United States is nearing a return to pre pandemic levels. Gun sales in the country have surged in recent years, suggesting that some traveller may be unfamiliar with the rules for carrying firearms while travelling by plane. “Entering a checkpoint with a firearm, particularly a loaded one, is an expensive mistake,” said Carter Langston, a T.S.A. spokesman.
When a gun is found at a checkpoint, the T.S.A. does not seize it. Instead, agents are instructed to call law enforcement to handle the situation. There is no federal criminal penalty for passengers caught with a gun at a checkpoint, but the T.S.A. can impose a fine of up to about $14,000 and the loss of PreCheck membership — which allows for expedited security screening — for up to five years.
Potential criminal charges, if any, vary by state. In Texas, law enforcement officials often tell travellers to get out of line, lock their guns in their cars and return to try to catch their flights. In New York, however, the discovery of a gun at a checkpoint will most likely end with the passenger in handcuffs.
