By Steve Neavling
More than 5,000 firearms were found at airport security checkpoints in the first nine months of this year, with an average of 18.3 guns intercepted daily, the TSA revealed this week. Of those, 93% were loaded.
The TSA releases these statistics quarterly to remind travelers of the rules: Firearms must be transported in checked baggage and cannot pass through security checkpoints.
Last year, a record 6,737 firearms were detected at checkpoints, surpassing the previous high of 6,542 in 2022. If the current trend continues, 2024 is expected to end with a similar total, around 6,700.
From July to September, the TSA found 7.5 firearms per million passengers, a slight decrease from 8.1 per million during the same period in 2023.
When firearms are discovered at a checkpoint, TSA contacts local law enforcement, and the person responsible may face arrest or fines of up to $15,000.
“TSA is committed to keeping travelers, our officers, and airport employees safe, and the number of firearms being discovered at airport security checkpoints remains a significant challenge,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said.
Between December 2023 and May, five American tourists were arrested in Turks and Caicos for suspected possession of ammunition. One of those arrested, Ryan Watson, 40, said he unknowingly left bullets in his luggage after a hunting trip. The ammunition went undetected by U.S. airport security but was discovered in Turks and Caicos.
How many of those 5,000 passengers were prosecuted? TSA won’t tell you because the answer is zero! This just reconfirms that TSA is just security theater. Everyone of those 5,000 people should have been fined $1,000 and spent a week in jail. That would surely stop this absentmindedness.