TSA Reports Record-setting Number of Firearms Found at Airports -- Security Today

TSA Reports Record-setting Number of Firearms Found at Airports

By Ginger Hill
Feb 19, 2015

During 2014, TSA officials ran into a record-setting number of firearms at airport security checkpoints. In fact, officials reported that more than 2,000 gun were discovered, making this a 22% increase from 2013. Any increase is mind-blowing when it comes to having firearms of any kind in prohibited places, but perhaps the scariest is that of those 2,000 firearms, 83% of them were loaded.

When TSA discovers a firearm that hasn’t been properly declared at the airline checkout counter with a form properly completed, they turn the gun over to the local police. If properly declared, the correct way to carry a firearm on an airplane is in a locked case.

Of the top 10 airports where guns were found, my hometown airport (not proud, by the way), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) comes in first with 120 finds and Orlando International Airport (MCO) comes in 10th with 47 finds.

TSA offers the following infographic to put all this into perspective:

TSA Reports Record-setting Number of Firearms Found at Airports

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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