In a concerning trend, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) broke its own record for the number of firearms seized at airport security screening checkpoints last year. TSA officers discovered 6,737 firearms, surpassing the previous year’s record of 6,542, with an alarming 93% of the confiscated firearms found loaded.
Expressing their concern, a TSA spokesperson highlighted, “TSA officials are concerned that the majority of individuals with firearms claim they forgot that their gun was in their carry-on bag. Responsible gun owners know where their guns are at all times.”
TSA officers, responsible for security checkpoints at 265 airports nationwide, screened a total of 858 million travelers in the past year. Bringing a firearm into an airport carries significant consequences, including a civil penalty of up to $15,000 and the potential revocation of a traveler’s TSA PreCheck membership.
In addition to these statistics, the agency unveiled some of the most peculiar items discovered in passenger baggage during 2023. These included marijuana concealed inside a diaper at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, a knife cleverly hidden in a prosthetic foot in Anchorage, and an explosive device discovered in an energy drink at Tulsa.
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