PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The record for guns found at Philadelphia International Airport TSA checkpoints was tied last week when agents found a loaded handgun inside the carry-on bag of a Philadelphia man. With a month to go, PHL is on the verge of setting a new record.
TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said it was the 44th such gun found at the airport this year.
“The majority of those 44 firearms are loaded, many of them with a bullet in the chamber. And of course that is certainly not the safe way to travel with a firearm,” Farbtein said.
The proper way, Farbstein says, is to secure it in a checked bag.
"I think that part of being a responsible gun owner is knowing where your firearm is at all times. Yet, the most common excuse we hear is that 'Oh, I forgot I had my gun with me.'"
She says that excuse won’t prevent offenders from facing civil fines of up to $15,000.
Farbstein says the record pace of guns found at the airport matches a national trend, as more people carry weapons.
“What we’re seeing in Philadelphia matches the nationwide trend where we’re seeing an uptick in the number of firearms that people are bringing to airport security checkpoints. Unfortunately, the trend seems to go up, up, up, up every single year.”
The number of firearms found at PHL has risen each year since 2019, when just 20 guns were detected.