TSA: Guns Found at National, Dulles, BWI Increase in 2016

ARLINGTON, VA — Consider this, if you will: in 2013, 27 guns combined were found at airport security checkpoints at Reagan National, Dulles and BWI (Baltimore Washington International).

Flash forward to 2016, when the combined number was 67.

That's the word from the Transportation Security Administration, which also reported a 34 percent increase in the number of guns caught at security checkpoints at the region's three major airports compared to 2015.

One obviously can look at the numbers with mixed conclusions: TSA is doing a better job of flagging customers with guns or, rather, more and more people are trying to bring guns onto airplanes.

Nationally, 3,391 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints, averaging approximately nine firearms per day, about a 28 percent increase in firearm discoveries from the total of 2,653 in 2015.

Eighty-three percent of the guns caught in 2016 were loaded.

The top five airports where TSA officers detected guns at checkpoints in 2016 were: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International with 198; Dallas/Fort Worth International with 192; George Bush Intercontinental at Houston with 128; Phoenix Sky Harbor International with 101; and Denver International with 98.

These same airports were in the top five for guns at checkpoints in 2014 and 2015.

TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on TSA.gov.

Image via Transportation Security Administration