TSA confiscate 6,542 guns in 2022

TSA confiscate 6,542 guns in 2022

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geeman237

Original Poster:

1,268 posts

191 months

Wednesday 18th January 2023
quotequote all
The TSA in the US just announced they confiscated 6,542 firearms from US travellers at airports in 2022. Even worse, 88% were loaded. That’s about 18 firearms per day. Staggering!

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tsa-guns-2022/

off_again

12,815 posts

240 months

Wednesday 18th January 2023
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Doesnt totally surprise me to be honest. I dont fly that much domestically here in the US, but you can spot the odd person transporting firearms on a commercial flight, and it still freaks me out... why? Because you can?

On a similar track, I was transferring to a different flight in Frankfurt once and had to go through security again. I was behind a Russian couple. Dazed and tired I wasnt quite with it. Suddenly the German border guards rushed around and dragged the Russians to the side. They then drew out a massive hunting knife from their bag. While this was being dealt with, its funny to see a few angry German border guards, I had a short conversation with the remaining ones running security. Just asked how frequent this was - their answer? More frequent than you could imagine and its a constant issue. Not firearms, but clearly banned weapons and it happens way more often than you might imagine.

sleepezy

1,902 posts

240 months

Wednesday 18th January 2023
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Combination of the proliferation of guns, number of flights (particularly domestic) and quite how stupid some people can be.

I was just North of you until yesterday (flew back to the UK from Raleigh Durham landing this morning) - was chatting to our new site GM about comparison of approaches to guns when he casually mentioned he had 5 - they were all in his car, which we were travelling in at the time, and unusually he didn't have one in his centre compartment. Combine that with the person ahead for me in TSA precheck (so presumably a regular traveller) who didn't realise the water in his water bottle counted as a liquid; casually carrying around guns is inevitably going to mean a relatively small (but still significant) number of people just 'pop them into their bag as normal' without thinking.

Still shocking

voyds9

8,489 posts

289 months

Wednesday 18th January 2023
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But isn't it legal to transport guns around the US when flying.

From the bits I've seen it seems to be the differences in which states you are travelling in as to how they are stored.
In a solid box, in a case, with the mag, without, with ammo in same case or in a different case. The the types of locks and where the keys are stored
And some areas although they nominally allow it they don't in practice (DC)


gotoPzero

18,042 posts

195 months

Wednesday 18th January 2023
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The vast majority of the 6500 will have failed TSA inspection for one reason or another at the desk.
These are not firearms that are seized at security as you go through the xray machines etc.

Before you fly with a firearm you have to check the bag that contains the firearm into the hold.
Before they take it off you they will (normally) want to see the firearm and check its not loaded and also check that the case its in complies with TSA requirements.

If something is not right then the gun has to get left behind and you will need to go back at a later date and pick it up.

Whilst people do genuinely have guns confiscated at security from time to time its not six thousand times a year.

Usually its a small gun which has been left in a bag and forgotten about. I believe, from what I have been told by people in the know that women are actually more prone to doing this than men as they carry a concealed firearm in their purse and forget before heading to the airport.


rodericb

7,088 posts

132 months

Thursday 19th January 2023
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geeman237 said:
The TSA in the US just announced they confiscated 6,542 firearms from US travellers at airports in 2022. Even worse, 88% were loaded. That’s about 18 firearms per day. Staggering!

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tsa-guns-2022/
One person gets their gun confiscated every 1.33 hours. That person should be found and stopped!