A television displays a ‘no weapons’ sign in the Transportation Security Administration security area of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 in Atlanta. Last year, a record number of firearms were intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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Brynn Anderson/AP
A television displays a ‘no weapons’ sign in the Transportation Security Administration security area of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 in Atlanta. Last year, a record number of firearms were intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country.
Brynn Anderson/AP
ATLANTA — The woman who left Philadelphia airport last year remembered to pack snacks, prescription drugs and a cell phone in her purse. But more important was what she had forgotten to unpack: a loaded .380 caliber handgun in a black holster.
The weapon was one of 6,542 weapons the Transportation Security Administration intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country last year. The number – about 18 a day – was an all-time high for firearms intercepted at US airports and raises concerns at a time when more Americans are armed.
“What we see at our checkpoints really reflects what we see in society, and in society there are more and more people carrying guns these days,” the administrator said. the TSA, David Pekoske.
With the exception of the pandemic-disrupted year 2020, the number of weapons intercepted at airport checkpoints has increased every year since 2010. Experts do not believe it is an outbreak of hijackers potential aircrews – almost everyone who is caught claims to have forgotten they had a gun with them – but they point to the danger that even a gun can pose in the wrong hands on an airplane or at a point control.
Firearms have been intercepted literally from Burbank, California to Bangor, Maine. But that tends to happen more at larger airports in areas where the laws are more favorable to carrying guns, Pekoske said. The list of top 10 gun interceptions in 2022 includes Dallas, Austin and Houston in Texas; three airports in Florida; Nashville, TN; Atlanta; Phoenix; and Denver.
Pekoske isn’t sure if the “I forgot” excuse is always true or if it’s a natural reaction to getting caught. Either way, he says, it’s a problem that needs to stop.
When TSA personnel see what they believe to be a weapon on the x-ray machine, they usually stop the belt so the bag stays inside the machine and the passenger cannot access it. . They then call the local police.
The repercussions vary according to local and national laws. The person can be arrested and the weapon confiscated. But sometimes they are allowed to give the weapon to a companion who is not flying with them and continue on their way. Unloaded weapons may also be placed in checked bags assuming they follow proper procedures. The Philadelphia woman had her gun confiscated and was to be fined.
These federal fines are the TSA’s tool to punish those who bring a firearm to a checkpoint. Last year, the TSA raised the maximum fine to $14,950 as a deterrent. Passengers also lose their PreCheck status – it allows them to bypass certain types of screening – for five years. It used to be three years, but about a year ago the agency extended the deadline and changed the rules. Passengers can also miss their flight and lose their weapon. If federal authorities can prove that the person intended to smuggle the weapon through the security checkpoint in what is called the sterile area of the airport, it is a federal offense.
A worker points as people wait for belongings in the Transportation Security Administration security area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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A worker points as people wait for belongings in the Transportation Security Administration security area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
Retired TSA official Keith Jeffries said gun interceptions can also slow down other passengers in line.
“It’s disruptive no matter what,” Jeffries said. “It’s a dangerous and prohibited item and, let’s face it, you should know where your weapon is, for shouting it out loud.”
Experts and officials say the rise in gun interceptions simply reflects the fact that more Americans are carrying guns.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group, tracks FBI data on background checks conducted for a gun sale. The numbers were just over 7 million in 2000 and around 16.4 million last year. They went even higher during the coronavirus pandemic.
For TSA agents looking for prohibited items, this can be shocking.
In Atlanta, Janecia Howard was monitoring the x-ray machine when she realized she was looking at a gun in a passenger’s laptop bag. She immediately flagged it as a “high risk” item and the police were notified.
Howard said she felt like her heart had sunk and she was worried the passenger was trying to get the gun. Turns out the passenger was a very apologetic businessman who said he just forgot. Howard says she understands travel can be stressful, but people need to be careful when preparing for a flight.
“You have to be vigilant and be careful,” she said. “It’s your property.”
Atlanta airport, one of the busiest in the world with around 85,000 people passing through checkpoints on a busy day, recorded the highest number of weapons intercepted in 2022 – 448 – but this number was actually lower than the previous year. Robert Spinden, the TSA’s top official in Atlanta, said the agency and the airport worked hard in 2021 to try to deal with the large number of firearms intercepted at checkpoints.
An incident in November 2021 reinforced the need for their efforts. A TSA agent noticed a suspected weapon in a passenger’s bag. When the officer opened the suitcase, the man reached for the gun and it exploded. People ran for the exits and the airport was closed for 2.5 hours, airport chief executive Balram Bheodari told a congressional hearing last year.
Authorities have installed new signage to draw the attention of gun owners. A hologram above a checkpoint shows an image of a spinning blue gun with a red circle above the gun and a line through it. Many 70-inch television screens display rotating messages that guns are not allowed.
“There are signs all over the airport. There are announcements, holograms, televisions. There is quite a bit of information that sort of flashes before your eyes to try to remind you as a last resort that if you own a gun, do you know where it is?” said Spinden.
Miami Airport has also worked hard to get the attention of gun owners. The airport manager told Congress last year that after setting a record for intercepting firearms in 2021, they installed high-visibility signage and worked with airlines to warn passengers . He said the number of firearms intercepted had fallen sharply.
Pekoske said signage is only part of the solution. Travelers already face a deluge of signs or announcements and don’t always pay attention. He also supports gradually increasing penalties to get people’s attention.
But Aidan Johnston, of gun advocacy group Gun Owners of America, said he would like to see the fines reduced, saying they were not a deterrent. While he would like to see more education for new gun owners, he also doesn’t consider it a “major heinous crime.”
“These are not bad people who desperately need to be punished,” he said. “These are people who made a mistake.”
Officials believe they catch the vast majority, but with 730 million passengers screened last year, even a tiny percentage is cause for concern.
Last month, musician Cliff Waddell was traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, to Raleigh, North Carolina, when he was stopped at the checkpoint. A TSA agent had seen a gun in his bag. Waddell was so shocked that he initially said it couldn’t be his because he had just flown the day before with the same bag. Turns out the gun was in her bag but she missed the throw. The TSA has acknowledged the breach, and Pekoske says they are investigating.
Trying to figure out how the gun he keeps locked in his glove box ended up in his satchel, Waddell realized he had removed it when he brought the vehicle in for repairs. Waddell said he recognized it was his responsibility to know where his firearm was, but was concerned about how the TSA could have missed something so important.
“It was a shock to me,” he said.
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