By Steve Neavling
Democrats in the U.S. House are asking the TSA to crack down on passengers carrying firearms at airports following an incident involving Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
The North Carolina Republican was cited earlier this week for carrying a loaded gun in a bag at a checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. It was his second offense.
In a letter to TSA Administrator David P. Pekoske, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman D-N.J., chairwoman of the Homeland Security subcommittee on transportation and maritime security, said they are concerned about the escalating number of guns being seized at airport checkpoints, The Washington Post reports.
The TSA confiscated a record number of guns in 2021.
The lawmakers urged the agency to “act decisively to ensure repeat offenders … face the full extent of TSA’s enforcement actions.”
The TSA confiscated Cawthorn’s pistol on Tuesday and cited him for possession of a dangerous weapon on city property before releasing him.
“The bipartisan support in the hearing and for the legislation indicates that Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle agree that those who break the law and endanger the safety of other passengers — and especially repeat offenders such as Rep. Cawthorn — must be held to account,” the lawmakers wrote.
