Most Of The 8 Guns Stopped By TSA Officers This Year At DC's 2 Airports Were Loaded

ARLINGTON, VA — Transportation Security Administration officials at Washington, D.C.'s two airports are concerned about an increase in the number of travelers bringing firearms to TSA checkpoints.

TSA officers say such incidents are becoming more frequent at Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports, with most of the firearms they encounter being loaded.

“The most common excuse we hear is that someone forgot that they had their gun with them,” said Scott T. Johnson, TSA’s federal security director for both airports. “That’s no excuse. If you own a firearm, you need to know where it is at all times. It’s part of being a responsible gun owner.”

In 2021, TSA teams at both airports found a combined of 49 guns over the entire year. That's compared to the eight guns stopped in just the first two months of 2022 — two at Dulles Airport and six at Reagan Washington National.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at their airline ticket counter. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided locked case, and packed separately from ammunition. The locked case must be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared.

“The penalties are stiff for carrying a gun to a checkpoint,” Johnson said in a release. “You could face criminal penalties on top of federal civil citations that can be extremely costly. My advice is to not make the mistake of bringing your gun to the checkpoint in the first place. We’re happy to help transport your firearm. All we ask is that you pack it safely and properly for your flight.”

In 2021, TSA officials nationwide stopped 5,972 guns at airports across the U.S., with 86 percent of those guns being loaded.