TSA is warning that too many guns show up at PHL checkpoints
Five guns were caught at PHL just last month.
Transportation Security Administration officials are warning passengers this week that they are not allowed to bring guns through airport checkpoints, after a record number of firearms were caught by TSA officers in Philadelphia and nationally last year.
The agency identified 39 guns during passenger security screenings at Philadelphia International Airport in 2021, despite a longstanding prohibition against bringing a gun onto a plane. That figure was a 50% increase over the 26 guns caught at PHL in 2020, when air travel declined because of the pandemic.
“The vast majority of travelers who are stopped with a gun in their possession at a checkpoint claim that they forgot that they had their gun with them,” TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said. “The second most common excuse is that their husband or wife packed their bag.”
“If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times,” Farbstein added.
None of the episodes last year at PHL was linked to a case of terrorism, according to Farbstein.
Five guns were caught at PHL just last month. In one instance, the TSA said, a Georgia man who was stopped at PHL “claimed that the .40 caliber handgun in his possession was a training weapon; however, it was an actual functioning firearm.” In another case, a Philadelphia woman was carrying a loaded gun in her handbag, TSA said.
At airports nationwide, TSA officers found 5,972 guns at checkpoints last year, a 35% jump from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 4,432 guns were detected.
Most of the guns found at checkpoints nationally last year — 86% of them — were loaded. “So now we are talking about people forgetting that they’ve got a loaded gun with them,” Farbstein said. “Responsible gun owners know where their guns are.”
Once a TSA officer identifies a gun during X-ray screening, police are called in to handle that piece of baggage and verify whether a firearm is inside. It’s then up to police whether to issue a summons or arrest the passenger, Farbstein said. Police will also confiscate the gun.
On TSA’s end, the agency’s compliance department decides on civil penalties for the passenger, which can reach up to $13,900. Travelers caught with a gun can also lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.
Passengers are allowed to bring guns in checked luggage, so long as the weapon is unloaded and packed inside a locked, hard-sided case, according to the agency’s website.
The number of guns found annually at PHL checkpoints declined before the pandemic, from 35 in 2017 to 20 firearms in 2019.
“With so many travelers flying by air for the first time, or for the first time in many years, we believe that many of these incidents are a result of passengers being unfamiliar with how to properly pack and secure their firearms for travel,” airport CEO Chellie Cameron said. PHL encourages “all of our guests that need to travel with a firearm to visit the TSA’s website for guidance prior to arriving at the airport.”