Friday, September 13, 2013

TSA Week in Review: .25 Caliber Firearm Concealed in Carry-On Bag (27 Loaded Firearms Discovered This Week)

Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – It’s important to examine your bag prior to traveling to ensure no prohibited items are inside. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your body, you could be cited and quite possibly arrested by local law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were found by our officers in strange places.

Loaded Gun Discovered at (CID)

  • A .25 caliber firearm loaded with 10 rounds was discovered hidden under the lining of a carry-on bag at Cedar Rapids (CID).
  • A knife-comb was discovered in a carry-on bag at Grand Rapids (GRR).
  • An 8-inch knife and a 6-inch knife were detected wrapped in plastic bags under a false bottom in a carry-on bag at Guam (GUM).


Knives Concealed in Baggage (GUM)

31 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 31 firearms, 27 were loaded and eight had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

Loaded Gun (PNS)


Stun Guns –11 stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation at Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), Charleston (CHS), Greenville–Spartanburg (GSP), Las Vegas (LAS), Long Beach (LGB), Kansas City (MCI), Oakland (OAK), Norfolk (ORF), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), and Tulsa (TUL).

Stun Guns Discovered at (Left to Right) BOS, LAS, LGB, MCI, OAK, ORF, RDU, CHS, TUL
Inert Ordnance and Grenades etc. - We continue to find inert hand grenades and other weaponry on a weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays in checkpoint screening. While they may be novelty items, you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here on why inert items cause problems.

  • A replica grenade was discovered in a carry-on bag at Las Vegas (LAS).
  • Two novelty grenade lighters were discovered in a traveler’s carry-on bag at Austin (AUS). Along with the grenades were a 5˝-inch double-edged switchblade, brass knuckles, and a component for an AR-15. He was arrested on a state charge.

Items Discovered in Carry-on Bag (AUS)


Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, Airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things…

(Top to Bottom - Left to Right) Machete (BWI), Kubaton w/ Blade (BNA), Kitchen Knife (AUS), Comb Knife (GRR)
Discovered at (BUR)

Firearms Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags

Firearms Discovered at (Top to Bottom - Left to Right) RDU, TUL, ATL, ATL, MCO, MEM, RNO, JAN, ATL

Firearms Discovered at (Top to Bottom - Left to Right) RDU, RDU, FLL, PHX, LAS, IAH, IAH

Firearms Discovered at (Top to Bottom - Left to Right) CHS, CLT, PHX


*In order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from what I report in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be estimates.

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.


Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.


If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you check out our post highlighting the dangerous, scary, and downright unusual items our officers found in 2012. The 2011 list can be found here.


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Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team


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http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/09/tsa-week-in-review-25-caliber-firearm.html