PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Transportation Security Administration seized a record number of guns at Philadelphia International Airport last year.
TSA agents found 44 guns at the airport’s security checkpoints in 2022, said agency spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein.
“Thirty-three of those guns, or 75%, were loaded,” she said. “That’s an accident waiting to happen.”
The number of firearms found at PHL has risen each year since 2019, when a scant 20 guns were detected.
“Unfortunately, we have seen a steady increase in the number of firearms caught at the checkpoints at Philadelphia,” Farbstein said.
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When a gun is found, the checkpoint lane comes to a halt and police are notified.
“The vast majority of people we stop tell us that they forgot that they had their gun with them,” Farbstein said. “If you are a responsible gun owner, you know where your gun is at all times.”
Travelers found with a gun in their carry-on baggage could face federal fines of nearly $15,000.
“If you want to travel with a firearm, you can. There’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it,” Farbstein explained. The proper way is to unload the gun and lock it in a hard-sided case.
“You take that case to your airline check-in counter. You declare you want to fly with it. And they make sure that it travels or is transported in the belly of the plane with the cargo and checked baggage,” she said.
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