Over 1,500 firearms caught at TSA checkpoints nationwide in first quarter of 2024: officials

WTXF
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<div>CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 02: A sign directs travelers to a security checkpoint staffed by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers at OHare Airport on June 2, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. The Department of Homeland Security said that the acting head of the TSA would be replaced following a report that airport screeners failed to detect explosives and weapons in nearly all of the tests that an undercover team conducted at airports around the country. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)</div>

PHILADELPHIA - The number of guns intercepted at airport checkpoints nationwide ticked slightly downward in the first quarter of the year, TSA officials said Thursday.

The report said 1,503 firearms were caught by TSA Agents from January-March, which represents roughly 16.5 guns detected at airports each day.

That number is slightly less than the 1,508 guns that were intercepted at airports across the country during the first quarter of last year, officials said.

The report shows that in both first quarters of 2023 and 2024, a disturbing 93% of the firearms that were intercepted by TSA Agents were loaded.

While the number of intercepted firearms remained on par, the amount of travelers screened at TSA checkpoints jumped by 15M passengers in that time frame.

"While it is certainly promising that the rate of passengers bringing firearms to the checkpoint has decreased, one firearm at the checkpoint is too many," said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. "Every time we discover a firearm at the checkpoint, the security screening process is slowed down for all."

There are strict guidelines on how to pack firearms for travel that can be found on the TSA's website.