Friday, June 21, 2013

TSA Week in Review: 57 Firearms Discovered This Week (47 Loaded)





Loaded Firearm (JAX)

57 Firearms Discovered This Week –Of the 57 firearms, 47 were loaded and 14 had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.


Stun Gun (SAN)
Stun Guns – Six stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation: Two were discovered at San Diego (SAN), and the others were found at Billings (BIL), Las Vegas (LAS), Laughlin/Bullhead City (IFP), and San Francisco (SFO).


Items in the Strangest Places –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, 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 in strange places.




  • A 3-inch belt buckle knife was discovered in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Ft. Lauderdale (FLL).
  • A 4-inch folding knife was found concealed under the lining of a passenger’s backpack at Seattle (SEA).
  • A 2½-inch knife was discovered concealed in a Denver (DEN) passenger’s thermos that contained ice and medication.

Belt Buckle Knife (FLL), Knife in Lining of Backpack (SEA)

What Not to Say at an Airport – Statements like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience many other passengers if the checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:


  • After a passenger’s cooler alarmed at Memphis, he stated that the bag contained explosives. It didn’t. It contained toiletry items, a freezer pack, and foam.
  • After asking a Denver (DEN) passenger if he had any other items that needed to be removed from his bag, he stated, "I have a bomb in my bag."


Knives Discovered at (Top - Bottom) LAX, PBI, DEN, OAK

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…
Firearms Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags
Guns Discovered at (L-R) CVG, CVG, ATL, LAS, PBI, LBB, SEA

Guns Discovered at (L-R) ECP, IND, DEN, SGF, ATL, PIT, BNA, CAK

Guns Discovered at (L-R) JAX, AEX, ATL, BHM, BOI, DEN, LAS, IAH

Guns Discovered at (L-R) ONT, MSY, RDU, SAT, SRQ

Guns Discovered at (L-R) HOU, LAS, SJU, FAI

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.


*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.


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.


Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team


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http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/06/tsa-week-in-review-57-firearms.html