Guns Seized At VA Airports Jump 20 Percent In 2022: TSA Year-End Count

DULLES, VA — The year-end count is official. The Transportation Security Administration said it seized a record number of 118 guns in 2022 at Virginia airports, a 20 percent increase over the 98 guns seized in 2021.

TSA officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport stopped the most firearms at any airport in Virginia. The 29 guns detected at DCA checkpoints in 2022 were one less than TSA officers detected in 2021.

Norfolk International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport finished in second and third in Virginia, with 27 and 25 firearms stopped, respectively, by TSA officers. Both of those numbers were increases over the previous year, with 23 for ORF and 19 for IAD detected in 2021.

The following table shows the number of firearms stopped by TSA officers at the three airports serving the Washington, D.C. area in 2022.

Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokesperson for the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, thinks passengers should be comforted by the increasing number of firearms caught at security checkpoints.

"They should feel reassured that the TSA officers are good at their jobs because they stop people from bringing guns onto flights," Farbstein told Patch in an email.

TSA officers discovered all of the 2022 firearms during the routine screening of carry-on bags at security checkpoints.

The Virginia upswing in gun seizures follows the national trend of rising firearm stops at airports.

TSA caught 6,542 guns at airport security checkpoints nationwide in 2022. That was an increase from the 5,972 detected in 2021. Last year's total was also a spike from the 4,432 stopped in 2019 before the pandemic.

An increase in firearms ownership coincides with the increase in the number of guns intercepted at TSA checkpoints. In 2020, an estimated 16.6 million adults in the United States bought a firearm, compared to 13.8 million in 2019, according to a study published online last year in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The number of weapons stopped at U.S. airport checkpoints has risen sharply since 2010, when screeners intercepted 1,123 guns. Firearm seizures have increased every year since then, except in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic reduced air travel.

"The most common reason given by passengers bringing a firearm into a checkpoint is 'I forgot that was in the bag' or 'Someone packed my bag for me,'" TSA spokesperson David Fritz said in a statement to The New York Times.

Here is a look at the rising number of guns seized over the past 15 years.

Nationwide, about 88 percent of the firearms detected last year were loaded. Guns were caught at 262 airport checkpoints around the country in 2022.

Here were the 10 airports with the most gun stops last year:

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
  • 448
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
  • 385
• Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport
  • 298
• Nashville International Airport
  • 213
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
  • 196
• Orlando International Airport
  • 162
• Denver International Airport
  • 156
• Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
  • 150
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
  • 134
• Tampa International Airport
• 131

Passengers are never allowed to have a gun on their person or in their carry-on luggage, even if they have a concealed carry permit.

Travelers can only fly with firearms in their checked baggage if the guns are unloaded and packed in a locked, hard-sided case. Ammunition must be in its original box, even if the box is not full. Bullets can be packed in the locked, hard-sided case next to the gun.

Passengers must bring their firearm to the airline check-in counter and declare it to an airline representative. Guns are placed in the belly of the aircraft so nobody can access them during the flight.

Visit this link to see TSA's full instructions on how to properly travel with a gun. Travelers should also check their local laws and airline policies before flying with a firearm.

Passengers who bring weapons to an airport security checkpoint may get federal fines of up to $15,000. Officials will also revoke the Trusted Traveler status and the TSA PreCheck expedited screening benefits for anybody who breaks these rules. A full list of penalties is posted here.

Travelers can check if an item is allowed in carry-on baggage by:

• Using the "What Can I Bring?" feature on the TSA website or on the free downloadable myTSA app
• Tweeting to @AskTSA
• Sending a text with a photo or a question to 275-872

Patch editor Jacob Baumgart contributed to the reporting of this story.