TSA finding guns in airline passenger luggage nearly every hour of every day

Gun seizures at U.S. airports nationwide are rising, so much so that security checkpoint officers are seizing them at a rate equivalent to nearly every hour of every day.

Airline passengers are increasingly getting caught and arrested for attempting to bring guns onboard aircraft, putting the United States on target to surpass last year’s record high of 6,542 seizures, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

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The TSA warned Monday that its approximate 50,000 officers nationwide are on target to blaze past last year’s record after officers had a high third quarter with 1,820 firearms nabbed between July and September.

The TSA reported 19.8 firearms found every day over the past three months — one for every hour between 4 a.m. through midnight.

Since January, the TSA has prevented 5,072 unauthorized guns from making it onto commercial flights, but that number could soar as Americans head into the busiest travel season of the year when the holiday season takes off in October.

The majority of the 5,072 guns seized since January were in carry-on baggage and found while the passenger was going through security lines. Even more concerning to TSA was that 94% of all guns found in the third quarter were loaded with ammunition.

“Passengers may travel with a firearm, but it must be in their checked baggage,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement. “Firearms are only permitted in checked baggage, unloaded in a locked hard-sided case and must be declared to the airline when checking the bag at the ticket counter.”

Gun seizures have soared in recent years as the TSA continues to bring in new technology for scanning people and luggage and as passenger volumes increase.

In 2010, 1,123 firearms were found, which will likely be one-third of the number found this year.

In 2016, a total of 3,391 firearms were seized from passengers.

Unloaded firearms are supposed to be packed in checked baggage and declared to the airline before the flight. Some states bar passengers from traveling to or from certain airports with guns, even in checked baggage.

“Firearms are prohibited at security checkpoints, in the secure area of an airport or in the passenger cabin of an aircraft even if a passenger has a concealed carry permit or is in a constitutional carry jurisdiction,” Pekoske said.

The TSA shared with the Washington Examiner in the past that most passengers accidentally pack the item in a carry-on rather than checked baggage, forget that the gun was loaded, or have altogether forgotten that a gun was in their belongings.

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“The number-one excuse that people give us for why they have their gun with them at a checkpoint is that they forgot that they had their gun with them. The second-most common excuse is that their husband or wife packed their bag. Neither of those excuses fly,” TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in a 2017 statement.

Passengers caught with a firearm face a federal civil penalty of up to $15,000 and arrest by local police.