FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015

TSA Week in Review: 63 Firearms, a Cannon Ball and More

“Due to the Fourth of July holiday, this report reflects the last eight days (7/2 - 7/9).”


63 Firearms Discovered Over the Last Eight Days – Of the 63 firearms discovered, 47 were loaded and 16 had a round chambered. The firearm pictured above was discovered in a carry-on bag at ATL.
A Columbia (CAE) traveler had the following items in his carry-on bag: Lopping shears, a sling shot, a carving knife, a hatchet, a limb saw and a machete.

Inert Ordnance and Grenades etc. – We continue to find inert grenades and other weaponry on a weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a real bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays because the explosives detection professionals must respond to resolve the alarm. Even if they are novelty items, you are prohibited from bringing them on the aircraft.


  • An inert cannonball was discovered in a checked bag at Lexington (LEX).
  • Six inert/replica grenades were discovered this week. Five were discovered in carry-on bags at Atlanta (ATL), Baltimore (BWI), Jacksonville (JAX), Los Angeles (LAX) and Santa Fe (SAF). An inert/replica grenade was also discovered in a checked bag at Santa Fe (SAF).


L-R: Inert Grenade (SAF), Replica Flash Bang Hot Sauce Grenade (BWI), Novelty Grenade (JAX), Cannonball (LEX)

Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – Artfully concealed is a term used to describe an item that was intentionally hidden. It could be anything from a knife sewn into the lining of a bag to a sword hidden inside of a walking cane. If a concealed prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your body, you could be cited and possibly arrested by law enforcement. Here is an from this week where an artfully concealed item was discovered by officers.

L-R: Belt Buckle Knife (ORF), Comb Knife (MCI)

Miscellaneous Prohibited Items – In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons and many other prohibited items too numerous to note.

Counterclockwise, items discovered at: PHX, LGA, CHS, SAN, SAT, AUS, ANC, DAL, MDW, GRR and CLE
Fireworks were discovered this week at: BOI, DAL, ICT, OGG, RNO, SAN and MDW

Stun Guns - 29 stun guns were discovered in carry-on bags around the nation this week. Five were discovered at Phoenix (PHX), four at Dallas Love (DAL), three at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), two at Norfolk (ORF), two at San Francisco (SFO), and the remainder were discovered at Atlantic City (ACY), Charleston (CHS), Cleveland (CLE), Denver (DEN), Kansas City (MCI), Lafayette (LFT), Minneapolis (MSP), Nashville (BNA), Newark (EWR), Portland (PDX), Raleigh Durham (RDU), Roanoke (ROA) and San Diego (SAN).

Ammunition – When packed properly, ammunition can be transported in your checked baggage, but it is never permissible to pack ammo in your carry-on bag.

Clockwise from top left, firearms discovered in carry-onbags at: ATL, TYS, BQN, MIA, LAS, PGS and COD


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 line 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 $11,000. 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.

*In order to provide a timely weekly update, this data is compiled from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly from what is reported in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will be actual numbers and not estimates.

Read our 2014 Year in Review post! If you haven’t read them yet, make sure you check out our year in review posts for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Follow @TSA on Twitter and Instagram!

Bob Burns
TSA Social Media Team

If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact us by clicking here.

Posted by Bob Burns (TSA Blog Team) at 7/10/2015 06:09:00 PM

http://blog.tsa.gov/2015/07/tsa-week...ms-cannon.html