Global Courant 2023-04-21 07:26:34
Transportation Security Administration agents intercepted 1,508 firearms in carry-ons at airport security checkpoints in the first three months of 2023, a 10.3% increase from the same period last year, the TSA said in a release Thursday.
While security officials have seen an increase in gun seizures, this is partly due to more Americans traveling by air, as airlines saw a 20.4% increase in customers in the first quarter of 2023.
More than 93% of firearms intercepted so far are loaded, while only 86% were loaded by 2022, the TSA said.
Travelers caught with a firearm in their hand luggage may be subject to applicable state and local laws. Even if carrying a gun is perfectly legal, the traveler’s PreCheck eligibility will be suspended for five years, the release said. They may also be subject to additional screening for future flights and a maximum civil fine of $14,950.
It can also cause a huge headache for fellow travelers.
“It’s the busy spring travel season and when someone shows up at the checkpoint with a firearm, the assembly line is stopped until the police arrive and can take the carry-on bag out of the x-ray machine to safely secure the weapon,” John Essig, the federal security director of the TSA at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City said this week after a passenger was apprehended with a gun.
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While many of the firearms intercepted are small handguns accidentally left in someone’s bag, travelers have been caught with larger, more powerful guns.
A New Orleans man was apprehended at a Louisiana airport in February with a loaded Palmetto PA-15 Multi AR rifle and five additional loaded magazines in his carry-on bag.
TSA agents stopped a man from taking a 163-round rifle on a flight from New Orleans, Louisiana. (Transport Security Administration)
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More than 6,540 firearms were intercepted at security checkpoints in all of 2022, a record number, according to the TSA. It’s a relatively new problem, as only 1,913 firearms were discovered a decade ago in 2013.
Travelers who do want to fly with a gun can do so if they keep it in a locked hard container in their checked baggage. They must also declare it to the airline during check-in for their flight, the TSA said.
Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to Paul.Best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.
