Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was recently hit with a new record after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents discovered two more guns in carry-on bags at the airport’s security checkpoints.
A firearm can only be taken on a commercial flight if it’s unloaded, contained in a locked and hard-sided case, inside a checked bag, and a passenger has to make it known during the check-in process at the airline ticket counter that their luggage contains a firearm, ammunition, or firearm parts like magazines, clips, bolts and firing pins. It is forbidden to bring a gun in your hand luggage onboard an aircraft.
In the past month, the TSA increased the maximum fine for bringing a gun through an airport security checkpoint from $13,910 to $14,950. The total fine amount is determined on a case-by-case basis, the TSA said. Travelers who try to travel with a firearm in carry-on luggage, TSA agents will immediately spot it in the X-ray machine, pull them aside, and have airport police speak with them.
TSA agents found 113 firearms in people’s carry-on luggage at security last year. This is a huge amountfound, however, Sea Tac is still not on The 10 airports with the highest confiscation of guns from carry-on baggage. Atlanta ranked number one and Tampa came in at number ten. Sea-Tac was number fourteen in the nation in 2022 for number of guns found at security. Sea-Tac: 113 guns in 17 million bags screened.
Experts are pondering why the spike in weapons found in carry-on bags? Some see it as the nation opening up after COVID shutdowns. Others think it could be partially attributable to people who don’t travel as often, simply not knowing the rules, or forgetting they have the weapon in their bag.
