TSA Detected 3 Guns From Manchester-Boston Regional Airport In 2024

MANCHESTER, NH — Transportation Security Administration agents seized 6,678 firearms, almost all of them loaded, before travelers could board airplanes at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and others around the country in 2024, the agency said in a recent news release.

The TSA said 94 percent of the firearms found at U.S. airports were loaded weapons. Overall, intercepted guns were down last year, although only marginally, with a difference of only about 60 guns between 2024 and 2023. TSA agents screened 903 million passengers in 2024, compared with 858 million the year prior. The rate of firearms found per 1 million travelers was 7.4 in 2024, compared with 7.8 in 2023.

Daniel D. Velez, a spokesman for the TSA in New England, said three firearms were detected in 2024 and two were loaded. During the previous four years, another nine guns were spotted by agents. Eight of them were loaded. No guns have been intercepted so far in 2025.

Velez confirmed, too, that firearms are not seized or confiscated. When a security officers identifies a firearm on the monitor, a supervisor is contacted. The supervisor then notifies the local police. In most cases at the Manchester airport, it is Londonderry police who are securing the facility.

A police officer then removes the check bag from the machine. The bag and passenger are then escorted from the checkpoint area, he said.

Airports reporting the most gun seizures were Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta (440); Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (390); and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (272).

Firearms are never allowed in carry-on bags, regardless of whether a passenger has a concealed weapon permit issued under local or state laws, which vary greatly across the United States.

Passengers may travel with unloaded firearms, but only if they are in a locked, hard-sided container in checked baggage, according to TSA rules. They also must declare the firearm and ammunition when checking the bag.

Other restrictions apply, and the TSA reminds gun owners the container the firearm was purchased in may not adequately secure the gun in checked baggage.

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