TSA details checkpoint firearm detection statistics

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have detected a record number of firearms at airport security checkpoints this year.

As of Oct. 3 officers had stopped 4,495 airline passengers from carrying firearms aboard flights, exceeding the full calendar year 2019 previous record of 4,432 firearms caught at checkpoints.

“The number of firearms that our TSA officers are stopping at airport checkpoints is alarming,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. “Firearms, particularly loaded firearms, introduce an unnecessary risk at checkpoints, have no place in the passenger cabin of an airplane and represent a very costly mistake for the passengers who attempt to board a flight with them.”

TSA personnel found 11 firearms in carry-on bags at checkpoints per million passengers screened so far in 2021. Officials offered the comparison to five firearms per million passengers in 2019.

The TSA indicated passengers can follow proper packing guidance for firearms in checked baggage and declare them to their airline during check-in. The agency advises travelers to have knowledge of state and local firearm laws for each point of travel before departure to ensure firearms are being transported in accordance with applicable law.

According to the TSA, passengers may travel with firearms in checked baggage when they are unloaded and packed in a locked, hard-sided case and the passenger must declare and present the case with the firearm at the airline check-in counter.