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| Above, a plane being readied at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Back in the good old days, when airline travelers were able to lock their suitcases before checking it in at the check-in counter, I would sometimes have my pistol (unloaded, of course) inside my luggage.
Since 9/11, the TSA requires all check-in luggage to be unlocked unless a TSA-approved lock is used. One can still bring their firearm(s), but it is under certain guidelines. Since this, I have not brought a firearm with me on trips. I am more fearful that a not-so-honest baggage handler might steal it.
CBS News reports that 6,301 guns, some loaded, have been confiscated by the TSA for not following the rules in 2022, so far.
They wrote:
Transportation Security Administration officers have confiscated 6,301 firearms from airport passengers so far in 2022 – the highest number recorded since the agency's inception. Of those guns taken at airport security checkpoints, 88% were loaded, the agency announced Friday.
The TSA said that it expects to have confiscated about 6,600 firearms by the end of year, which would mark a 10.5% increase from the 5,972 firearms seized in 2021, which was also a record.
The agency also reported Friday that it was raising the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 to $14,950.
The top 5 airports for firearm stops so far this year, according to TSA, were:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – 438
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport – 371
- Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport – 286
- Nashville International Airport – 203
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport – 184
Nashville had the highest rate of firearm confiscation per capita, according to a TSA spokesperson.
To read more, go here.
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