35 guns stopped at checkpoint at BWI Airport in 2022, up from previous year

WASHINGTON -- Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped 89 handguns at airport security checkpoints in the Baltimore/Washington region in 2022, a sharp increase of nearly 24 percent from the 72 guns caught in 2021. 

Each of the firearms were discovered by TSA officers during the routine screening of carry-on property at airport security checkpoints.

Thirty-five handguns were caught at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, 29 were caught at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 25 at Washington Dulles International Airport.  

Nationwide, TSA officers detected 6,542 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2022. 

It was a significant increase from the 5,972 detected in 2021 and a spike from the 4,432 detected in 2019 (pre pandemic).  

Of the guns caught in 2022, approximately 88 percent were loaded. Firearms were caught at 262 airport checkpoints nationwide.

Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. 

TSA tells travelers to familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure to ensure that they have the proper gun permits for the states that they are traveling to and from. 

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a locked hard-side case.

Ammunition must be in its original box and can be packed inside the hard-side case, next to the firearm. 

Even if the box of ammunition is not full, the bullets must be in their original case. The case with the firearm should be brought to the airline check-in counter to be declared with the airline representative. Firearms are transported in the belly of the aircraft so that nobody has access to them during the flight. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its web site.