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 Of the 67 firearms found during the week ended Sept. 17, 56 were
loaded and 26 had a round in the chamber, the TSA reported. The
tally set a new weekly record. The prior record was 65 firearms
found during a week in May 2013, TSA said.
For the most recent week, ending Sept. 24, TSA said it found 64
firearms in carry-on bags at airports. Of those, 55 were loaded and
22 had a round chambered, TSA said.
In July, new TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger told a congressional
panel that his top priority would be to close security gaps at
airport checkpoints.
Lawmakers opened a U.S. House of Representatives hearing after a
Department of Homeland Security report that found TSA airport
screeners did not detect banned weapons in 67 of 70 tests at dozens
of airport checkpoints.
Guns in airplane luggage have been found all around the country. TSA
said its agents stopped a man Thursday at a Greater Rochester
International Airport checkpoint in New York when they detected a
gun in his carry-on bag. A day prior, on Sept. 23, TSA found a
loaded firearm in a passenger's carry-on bag at the Des Moines
International Airport in Iowa.
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Nationwide, TSA officers have found more than 2,000 firearms at
airport security checkpoints so far this year.
Weapons, including firearms, firearm parts and ammunition, are
banned from carry-on bags, but can be transported in checked bags if
they are unloaded, and declared to the airline. Passengers who bring
firearms to the checkpoint face possible criminal charges and civil
penalties up to $11,000.
(Reporting By Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Mo.; Editing by Andrew
Hay)
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