by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:55 AM ET, Wed July 10, 2024
The Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) announced that agents working at airport checkpoints
across the United States intercepted 3,269 firearms during the first half of
2024.
TSA officials reported that the first half of the year ended
June 30, with the total number of confiscated guns representing an average of 19
firearms detected per day at security checkpoints.
Of the guns stopped by TSA agents, an astounding 94 percent
were loaded.
During the same period in 2023, 3,251 firearms were
confiscated. While the numbers are very similar, TSA officers have screened
nearly seven percent more passengers during the first half of 2024 than the
previous year.
“During a period of record-breaking travel volumes, our
officers are working hard to keep our transportation systems secure and the
traveling public safe, and any time they detect a firearm, there is a real
safety concern for frontline employees and travelers,” TSA Administrator David
Pekoske said.
The TSA screened more than 236 million passengers during the
second quarter of 2024, compared to more than 221 million passengers in the
second quarter of 2023. The rate of passengers with firearms during the most
recent quarter was 7.5 firearms per one million people, a slight decrease from
the previous year.
“If you carry a firearm, you are required to place it
unloaded and locked in a hard-sided case in your checked bag and declare it to
the airline when checking in at the airline ticket counter,” Pekoske continued.
“Do not bring it to the checkpoint. It is costly and delays you and everyone
else traveling in the same lane with you.”
Earlier this week, TSA officials announced the federal
agency had set
a new record for the number of travelers screened in a single day. Security
officers screened a record 3,013,413 people at checkpoints around the United
States on Sunday, July 7.
On the same date the previous year, agents only screened
2,644,639 people.
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