FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014

TSA Week in Review – 38 Loaded Firearms, Inert Explosives, Concealed Items, and Other Items of Note

Inert Items Discovered at (L-R) SAN, SEA, & SFO
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 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 resolve the alarm to determine the level of threat. Even if they are novelty items, you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here on why inert items cause problems

  • An inert grenade was detected in the carry-on bag of a Seattle (SEA) passenger.
  • Five 40mm grenade launcher practice rounds and one 20mm practice round were discovered in checked baggage at San Diego (SAN).
  • Three hollowed out replica grenades, six brass projectile cartridges, one hollowed out replica mortar, and one hollowed out replica 30mm projectile were discovered in a checked bag at San Francisco (SFO).

48 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 48 firearms, 38 were loaded and12 had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

(T-B) Items Discovered at SAN & SAV
Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – It’s important to examine your bags prior to traveling to ensure prohibited items are not inside. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your body, you could be cited and 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 magazine loaded with seven rounds of .45 caliber ammunition was detected in the carry-on bag of a Savannah (SAV) passenger. The loaded magazine was inside of a sock and hidden under the lining of his ba
  • Two concealed knives with 10-inch blades were detected in the carry-on bag of a San Francisco (SFO) passenger. The knives were wrapped in paper and taped to the bottom interior lining of his bag.
  • 23 credit card knives were discovered this week. Three were discovered at Fargo (FAR), two were discovered at Cincinnati (CVG), two more at Memphis (MEM), and the remainder were discovered at Bismarck (BIS), Charleston (CHS), Colorado Springs (COS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Hibbing (HIB), Kansas City (MCI), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Long Beach (LGB), Minneapolis (MSP), Myrtle Beach (MYR), Oakland (OAK), Saipan (GSN), San Juan (SJU), St. Louis (STL), Tampa (TPA), and Tucson (TUS).

(Clockwise) Items discovered at DAL, BOS, LAX, BTV, DTW
All Discovered In One Passenger's Bag at ROA
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 thing

Stun Guns – 14 stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation. Two were discovered at Dallas Love (DAL), two more at Detroit (DTW), and the remainder were discovered at Baltimore (BWI), Chicago Midway (MDW), Milwaukee (MKE), Minneapolis (MSP), Newport News (PHF), Pensacola (PNS), Richmond (RIC), Roanoke (ROA), Stockton (SCK), and Watertown (ART).

Ammunition in Carry-on Bag at MCO
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.

Airsoft Guns – Four Airsoft guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags. Three were discovered at San Francisco (SAN), and one was discovered at Honolulu (HNL). Airsoft guns are prohibited in carry-on bags, but allowed in checked baggage. Airsoft grenades are not permitted in checked or carry-on bags. Read this post for more information: TSA Travel Tips Tuesday: Traveling With Airsoft Guns


Firearms Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags
Firearms Discovered at (Clockwise) GPI, PHX, DAL, LAS, PHX, DAL & AUS


*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.

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 $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.

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Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

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http://blog.tsa.gov/2014/05/tsa-week...-firearms.html