FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014

TSA Week in Review – 48 Firearms Discovered This Week In Carry-On Bags (39 Loaded)

Loaded Firearm (SHV)

48 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 48 firearms, 39were loaded and 15 had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

L-R Grenades Discovered at (LAS) & (ANC)
Inert Ordnance and Grenades, etc. – TSA continues 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.
Artfully Concealed Items (Clockwise) BOS, LGB, PHL, ROA


  • Seven inert grenades were discovered this week. Six were discovered in checked-baggage at Anchorage (ANC) and one was found in a carry-on bag at Las Vegas (LAS).


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 officers in strange places.
Batarangs (EWR)
Knives (Clockwise) ABE, BOS, BTV, ITH

  • 42 credit card knives were discovered this week. Eleven were discovered at Kansas City (MCI), eleven were discovered at Minneapolis (MSP), three were discovered at Tampa (TPA), two at Myrtle Beach (MYR), two at Cincinnati (CVG), two at St Louis (STL), and the remainder were discovered at Bismarck (BIS), Charleston (CHS), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Duluth (DLH), Fargo (FAR), Joplin (JLN), Long Beach (LGB), Manchester (MHT), Saint Louis (STL), Shreveport (SHV) and Traverse City (TVC).
  • A plastic bag containing 67 pills hidden inside of a hollowed out textbook was discovered in checked baggage at Philadelphia (PHL).
  • A utility blade was detected within a tablet computer at Chicago Midway (MDW).
  • After opting out of AIT screening at Jacksonville (JAX), a manicure set and a pocket knife were discovered under a passenger’s undergarments during a pat-down.
  • A cane with a stun gun built into the bottom was discovered at Roanoke (ROA).

Gun-shaped Knife
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 a lot of sharp pointy things…


Airsoft Gun (PBI)
Stun Guns – 14 stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation at Akron (CAK), Albuquerque (ABQ), Baltimore (BWI), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Denver (DEN), Greensboro (GSO), Kansas City (MCI), Los Angeles (LAX), Milwaukee (MKE), Oklahoma City (OKC), Richmond (RIC), Roanoke (ROA), Sacramento (SMF) and San Francisco (SFO).
Airsoft Guns – Three Airsoft guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags. Two were discovered at Palm Beach (PBI) and one was discovered at Abilene (ABI). 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
Loaded Guns Discovered at (Clockwise) SJU, MAF, BNA, LAS, BGR, CLT, LEX


*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. 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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