TSA Finds Record Number Of Guns In US Airplane Carry On Luggage
Posted by jhingarat21 on 12th Oct 2015
US airport security agents discovered a record 67 firearms in luggage passengers intended to carry on to airplanes during one week in September, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Of the 67 firearms found, 56 were loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms found during a week in May 2013, the TSA said.
For the most recent week, the TSA said it found 64 firearms in carry on bags at airports. Of those, 55 were loaded and 22 had a round chambered.
In July, new TSA administrator Peter Neffenger told a congressional panel that his top priority would be to close security gaps at airport checkpoints.
Lawmakers opened a House of Representatives hearing after a Department of Homeland Security report that found TSA airport screeners did not detect banned weapons in 67 of 70 tests at dozens of airport checkpoints.
Guns in airplane luggage have been found all around the country. The TSA said its agents stopped a man on Thursday at a Greater Rochester International Airport checkpoint in New York, when they detected a gun in his carry-on bag.
The day before, TSA agents found a loaded firearm in a passenger’s carry on bag at the Des Moines International Airport in Iowa.
Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year.
Weapons including firearms, firearm parts and ammunition are banned from carry on bags but can be transported in checked bags if they are unloaded and declared to the airline. Passengers who bring firearms to the checkpoint face possible criminal charges and civil penalties up to $11,000.