FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2014

TSA Week in Review – 23 Firearms Discovered This Week (20 Loaded)

Loaded Gun (ICT)

23 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 23 firearms, 20 were loaded and four had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

L-R: Grenade Cologne (DCA), Grenade Lighter (SBA)
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. 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.


  • An inert/novelty grenade was discovered in a carry-on bag at Santa Barbara (SBA).
  • Cologne in a grenade-shaped bottle was discovered in a carry-on at Washington Reagan (DCA).



Top - Bottom: Credit Card Knife (MCI), Tactical Pen (MOB)
Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – It’s important to examine your bags 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.


  • A tactical pen was discovered in Mobile (MOB).
  • A razorblade was detected in a shoe at Detroit (DTW).
  • Five credit card knives were discovered this week. Two at Albuquerque (ABQ), two at Kansas City (MCI), and one in Atlantic City (ACY).


One Week's Worth of Sharp & Pointy Things at (ROC)

L-R: Knives Discovered at LAX, DEN, DEN & AUS


L-R: Gun Handle w/ Spiked Knuckles (LAS), Samurai Sword Shaped Umbrella (DCA)
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…


Stun Guns – 16 stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation. Three were discovered at Las Vegas (LAS), two at Minneapolis (MSP), and the remainder were found at Atlanta (ATL), Boise (BOI), Dallas (DAL), Harlingen (HRL), Washington Dulles (IAD), Little Rock (LIT), Newport News/Williamsburg (PHF), Phoenix (PHX), Richmond (RIC), San Juan (SJU), and Sacramento (SMF).



Firearms Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags


Left - Right / Top to Bottom: Guns Discovered at ELP, BNA, ATL, OMA, CMH, ATL




*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 TSA Blog Year in Review for 2013. You can also check out 2011 & 2012 as well.

Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

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

http://blog.tsa.gov/2014/01/tsa-week...-firearms.html