Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers discovered 70 firearms over the last week in carry-on bags around the nation.
Of the 70 firearms discovered, 57 were loaded and 16 had a round chambered. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality.
Travelers bringing firearms to the checkpoint can be arrested and fined up to $11,000.
Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.
You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms in checked baggage.
(Thinking of traveling with a firearm? Watch this short informative video to learn more! Courtesy of the TSA and YouTube)
These inert grenades were discovered in checked bags at Seattle (SEA) and Medford (MFR).
We don’t know grenades are inert until our explosives professionals take a closer look, and that takes time and slows down the line.
It can even lead to a complete shutdown and evacuation.
Real, inert, or anything resembling a grenade is prohibited in both carry-on and checked baggage.
Inert prototype projectile munitions for energetic drilling were discovered in a checked bag at Spokane (GEG).
As mentioned above with inert grenades, we have no way of knowing items such as these are inert until our explosives professionals take a closer look.
From the left, these knives were discovered in carry-on bags at BNA, DAL, JAX, STL and SBA.
While all knives are prohibited in carry-on bags, they may be packed in checked baggage.
In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly in carry-on bags, our officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, stun guns, small pocketknives and many other prohibited items too numerous to note.
*In order to provide a timely weekly update, this data is compiled from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly from what is reported in the weekly updates.
However, any monthly, midyear or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will be actual numbers and not estimates.
(See some of those items discovered by TSA Agents in the #TopTen Most Unusual Finds of 2016! Courtesy of the TSA and YouTube)
Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds.
Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the line is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested.
This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home.
Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions; that’s for the law enforcement officer to decide.
In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.
