During the holiday travel rush, TSA officers intercepted three individuals attempting to bring loaded guns onto flights. In separate incidents along the East Coast, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) caught travelers with firearms in their carry-on luggage.
On December 22, at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, TSA staff discovered a .380 caliber handgun loaded with seven bullets in the luggage of a Florida man. The traveler claimed to have forgotten about the loaded gun in his possession, according to a TSA statement.
On Christmas Eve, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in DC, TSA officers detected a 9mm gun with six bullets in the carry-on bag of a Maryland woman. The pink-paneled gun marked the 39th firearm found at the airport in 2023, breaking the previous record of 30 in 2021. The woman faces a penalty of up to $15,000, and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police confiscated the firearm, citing the individual on a weapons charge.
On Christmas Day itself, a male passenger at Pittsburgh International Airport was caught with a .380 caliber handgun containing six bullets in his carry-on. This marked the 44th gun confiscated at the airport in 2023. TSA’s federal security director for the airport, Karen Keys-Turner, expressed strong disapproval, emphasizing that bringing a firearm to a security checkpoint is “absolutely unforgivable.” The passenger is expected to face a substantial federal financial penalty for introducing an unnecessary risk into the airport environment.
The incidents contribute to a concerning trend of an increasing number of people attempting to carry guns onto airplanes, as highlighted by the TSA. In the third quarter of 2023, TSA officers detected 1,820 firearms at airport checkpoints, averaging nearly 20 per day, with 94% of them loaded. The figure for illicit guns found in 2023 is anticipated to surpass last year’s record of 6,542 across the United States. In the first nine months of this year alone, over 5,000 guns were intercepted.
TSA officials stressed that responsible gun owners are expected to know the proper way to pack a firearm for a flight, ensuring it is unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case, and declared at the airline check-in counter. Travelers attempting to bring guns to a security checkpoint are likely to face federal civil penalties amounting to thousands of dollars. The TSA’s warnings underscored the importance of responsible firearm ownership and the serious consequences of violating airport security protocols.
In addition to firearms, travelers have made various attempts to bring unconventional items onto planes this year, including a boa constrictor in Florida and a live cat at Norfolk Airport. Following a series of such incidents, pet owners were reminded not to pass their animals through the X-ray machine during airport security checks in September. The heightened vigilance during holiday travel reflects the TSA’s commitment to maintaining the safety and security of air travel for all passengers.