Handguns Detected At Washington, DC Airports Drops By Half: TSA

WASHINGTON, DC — Transportation Security Administration officials saw a significant drop in the number of weapons that travelers attempted to bring into the security checkpoints of Washington, DC-area airports in 2020, when there was a massive drop in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, TSA officials announced on Tuesday.

TSA officials detected a total of 30 handguns entering airports in Washington, DC and Baltimore, which was less than half the number of weapons that were collected in 2019. The totals is also the lowest number of handguns that have been secured at checkpoints by TSA officers since at least 2016, officials announced.

Each of the guns that were secured were detected at checkpoints during routine pre-flight screenings at airport security checkpoints in Baltimore and Washington’s two airports, officials said.

The largest number of the 30 handguns were collected at Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore where 13 guns were detected. A total of 10 handguns were detected in the carry-on luggage of travelers at Ronald Reagan-Washington National Airport while seven handguns were found on travelers at Washington-Dulles Airport.

In previous years, 67 handguns were detected at security checkpoints in 2016, which represented the highest number of guns at Washington and Baltimore airports over the five-year span, officials said.

Atlanta led the country in the number of weapons detected on travelers in 2020 with 220 handguns being detected, followed by Dallas Fort-Worth, where 176 handguns were detected by TSA officials. Nationally, 3,257 firearms were found in the carry-on luggage of passengers in 2020 although the number of passengers was reduced by 500 million because of the coronavirus pandemic, TSA officials announced.

Of the handguns found by TSA officials, 83 percent of the weapons were loaded. Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms as long as they are packed in checked luggage and if the weapons are not loaded. Passengers who bring weapons into security checkpoints are subject to fines up to $13,669, TSA officials said. The average fine for bringing a weapon into a checkpoint is $4,100.