TSA Facing Rise in Firearms Confiscations In States With More Permissive Gun Laws

TSA Facing Rise in Firearms Confiscations In States With More Permissive Gun Laws

The increase in gun confiscations has caused delays in security check lines and increases in local police calls to airports.

While the TSA has increased its efforts to warn passengers against bringing their firearms to the airport, the number of firearms seized at airports over the past five years has grown in scale, especially in states where residents are not required to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. 

Between 2014 and 2018, TSA records show that the number of guns confiscated by agents has increased by 92 percent, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. The 10 major airports with the highest gun seizure rates per passenger screened are in states with concealed carry laws or where officials are required to issue permits to all law-abiding residents. 

Those airports include Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. In contrast, the majority of airports with the lowest seizure rates give government officials “more discretion to deny permits,” Bloomberg reported. 

The increasing amount of guns placed in carry-on luggage has caused delays in security check lines and growing frustration from TSA agents. While it is legal for passengers to put a gun in their checked baggage as long as it’s empty of bullets, an unloaded gun cannot be taken in a carry-on. TSA agents have to take the passenger to the side and call local police if they find one. 

In 2018, the agency detected guns in carry-on bags more than 4,200 times, breaking a record. About 86 percent of confiscated firearms were also loaded, according to the TSA data. Most passengers forgot the weapons were in their bags. 

“Assuming that all those people who are caught with a firearm aren’t terrorists, that’s a huge distraction from the mission of TSA to keep terrorists off planes,” John Pistole, a former TSA administrator and current president of Anderson University in Indiana, told Bloomberg. 

For some lawmakers, the growing rate of confiscations is a positive sign that the TSA is catching people who are (accidentally or not) breaking the law by bringing firearms on board. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, said he is currently satisfied with how the agency is handling the increase in firearms seizures. In previous years, the TSA has struggled with uncovering weapons, failing as many as 95 percent of its internal tests in 2015. The TSA said its fail rate has improved since then, though it has not said by how much. 

“I see it as a positive in a sense that we are catching the people, even if we catch it more,” Thompson said. 

 

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”