(DailyDig.com) – According to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) report on July 9, the number of people stopped at security checkpoints at US airports for possessing a firearm has increased during the first half of this year.
The TSA found 3,269 guns, with 94 percent of those weapons loaded. The TSA found 3,251 firearms in the same time period in 2023. When the TSA adds that passenger screening has increased this year, the increase may be insignificant. This includes the three million people flying on July 7, which broke the record for the number of passengers flying in a single day.
The third quarter of 2024 saw an additional 166 guns intercepted between July 1 and July 8, bringing the total to 3,435 guns stopped at the checkpoints.
According to the TSA report, the average number of firearms intercepted is 19.4 per day. This translates to an average of 7.5 firearms for every one million passengers in the second quarter. This gun-to-passenger rate is actually a slight decrease from the 7.9 guns for every one million passengers during the second quarter of 2023.
The report from the TSA concluded that, although the number of firearms detected increased in the first six months of 2024 by 184 guns, the number of passengers increased by close to seven percent from 2023.
David Pekoske, the administrator for the TSA, released a statement saying that during high-volume passenger travel on airlines, his officers work to keep the system secure. For the safety of the traveling public and its officers, whenever they detect a firearm where it is not allowed, they must act.
He added that even if a passenger has a permit to conceal carry, they cannot bring their firearm to security checkpoints when they are traveling. Instead, they need to unload their firearm, secure it in a hard-sided case, and place it in their checked-in luggage. By bringing the firearm to the checkpoint, they will waste their time and that of passengers in line behind them, and it will be costly.
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