TSA Tally: Over 6,500 guns prevented from entering U.S. airports in 2022
BALTIMORE -- The Transportation Security Administration prevented a record number of guns from going through airport security checkpoints in 2022.
The federal agency says passengers tried to bring more than 6,500 guns at airport security checkpoints across the country that year.
That figure is a sharp increase from the 5,900 guns the agency prevented from entering security checkpoints in 2021.
Federal agents say the biggest reason airline passengers are giving them for having guns when they enter an airport is that they forgot they had the guns in the first place.
But that reasoning doesn't absolve passengers from their security obligations, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.
"It is your responsibility to know where your gun is at all times," she said.
Farbstein noted that 88% of those 6,500 guns recovered were loaded.
Passengers who are caught entering security checkpoints with a weapon can face up to $1,500 in fines and possibly arrest. Additionally, they could lose their pre-check eligibility for up to five years, she said.
Airline passengers told WJZ on Tuesday that they felt the large number of weapons recovered indicated that TSA was doing "a pretty good job."
"I think that's good," Bobby Bell said. "I'm glad they caught them. Just think if they didn't catch them what that would be like."