Despite brisk gun sales in the United States, the Transportation Security Administration is on track to break a record for the number of guns seized at airport security checkpoint.
More than 4,600 guns have been discovered by T.S.A. officers so far this year, and about 85% of them were loaded. The T.S.A. found a record number of guns at airports last year. The number of guns discovered at security checkpoint has gone up for more than a decade, with the only decrease occurring during the Pandemic.
The number of guns found at the nation's airports this year has come as air travel in the US is nearing a return to normal. Some travelers may be unfamiliar with the rules for carrying firearms while traveling by plane due to the increase in gun sales in the country.
Carter Langston, a T.S.A. spokesman, said that entering a checkpoint with a gun is an expensive mistake.
The T.S.A. doesn't seize a gun at a checkpoint. The agents are told to call the law enforcement. The T.S.A. can impose a fine of up to $14,000 and the loss of PreCheck membership for up to five years if a passenger is caught with a gun.
Criminal charges may vary by state. Travelers in Texas are often told to get out of line, lock their guns in their cars and return to their flights if they want to. The passenger in New York will most likely be arrested after a gun is found at a checkpoint.
Criminal charges can vary depending on whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Someone with a concealed- carry permit can be charged with a second-degree felony in Florida. A passenger who does not have one could be charged with a felony.
The 10 airports with the most guns were all in the South or the West. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had the highest number of guns found.
There was a panic at the Atlanta airport last year after a gun was accidentally discharged. In the spring of this year, Representative Madison Cawthorn, a Republican from North Carolina, was briefly held by the police after trying to bring a loaded gun through airport security in Charlotte, the second time in a little over a year that he had been caught with a gun at an airport
Guns can be transported in checked baggage, even if they can't be brought onto the plane in carry-on luggage. There is a hard-sided case for those firearms.
The director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, a gun rights group, said that many passengers with guns at the airport were in a stressed state because they didn't know where their gun was. First-time gun owners who may not be familiar with the rules of traveling with a firearm may be to blame for the increase in guns found at checkpoint.
He didn't support punishing travelers for an honest mistake, but he encouraged gun owners to educate themselves about the T.S.A.'s requirements.
He said that gun owners should learn how to take a gun from one place to another and how to take a gun through an airport.
Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said the rise in guns found at airports was the result of record gun sales and states relaxing gun safety laws.
The T.S.A. tries to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. In March, the agency announced that it was investing $780 million in a new X-ray machine that would help it better detect weapons, explosives and other objects.
On Capitol Hill, the issue has been under scrutiny. The T.S.A. was called to investigate additional ways to deter travelers from bringing guns to the airport at a hearing in February of this year. She said the rise in guns at airports was a toxic combination.
Legislation has been proposed by the chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee to address the increase in guns found at checkpoint. Minimum fines for repeat or serious violations would be established under her bill.
Ms. Coleman said that if nothing is done, tragedy will occur and lives will be lost.
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