The first half of the year ended June 30 and the total represents an average 19 firearms detected per day at TSA checkpoints; more than 94% were loaded.
While the number of firearms discovered during this period last year is nearly the same at 3,251, the total number of passengers increased. TSA has screened nearly 7% more passengers during the first half of 2024 than during the same period in 2023. During the second quarter of 2024, TSOs screened more than 236 million passengers, compared to more than 221 million passengers in the second quarter of 2023.
In the first eight days of July, which falls within the third quarter, transportation security officers (TSOs) across the US intercepted 166 additional firearms, bringing the total to July 8 to 3,435 firearms. The rate of passengers with firearms during the most recent quarter was 7.5 firearms per one million passengers, which is a slight decrease from the same period in 2023, when the rate of discovery was 7.9 firearms per one million passengers.
“During a period of record-breaking travel volumes, our officers are working hard to keep our transportation systems secure and the travelling public safe, and any time they detect a firearm, there is a real safety concern for frontline employees and travellers,” said TSA administrator David Pekoske. “If you carry a firearm, you are required to place it unloaded and locked in a hard-sided case in your checked bag and declare it to the airline when checking in at the airline ticket counter. Do not bring it to the checkpoint. It is costly and delays you and everyone else traveling in the same lane with you.”
TSA does not confiscate or seize firearms. If a passenger brings a firearm to the security checkpoint on their person or in their carry-on luggage, the officer will contact local law enforcement to safely unload and take possession of the firearm. Law enforcement may also arrest or cite the passenger, depending on local law. TSA may impose a civil penalty up to almost $15,000, and for the first offence, passengers who bring a firearm to a security checkpoint will lose TSA PreCheck (which provides expedited security screening benefits) eligibility for five years.
