The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently reported that it had confiscated a record number of firearms at airport checkpoints during 2017, and that the bulk of them were loaded.
According to the TSA, last year saw the agency confiscate 3,957 firearms from carry-on bags. That was up from the 3,391 guns taken from people at security checkpoints in 2016.
It is an astonishing number of guns, considering that it has been well-publicized for many years that guns cannot be carried in “carry-on” luggage and that firearms must be declared and checked in at the ticket/check-in counter. The transportation of firearms in check luggage is also subject to the regulations posted by each individual commercial airline.
The TSA reported that a whopping 84 percent of the seized firearms were loaded, and 34.8 percent had rounds chambered.
The greatest number of seizures was reported at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport (245) which also set the record for the most guns confiscated during a single month. That was in August, and TSA agents took 31 firearms from people that month.
Next in line is the Dallas/Fort Worth airport with 211 gun seizures and third in line was George Bush International in Houston where 142 firearms were confiscated. Denver International Airport saw 118 guns taken last year and another 115 were confiscated at Phoenix Sky Harbor International, TSA reported, according to a story from Fox News.
But there was more. TSA officers also confiscated “grenades” and smoke grenades, flash bangs, gun powder and “ground burst simulators” at “various airports,” Fox reported.
The Fox News reported did not provide details on what happened to the various travelers whose firearms were confiscated by TSA inspectors, most of who claim that they merely forgot that had the gun in their possession.
