TSA Intercepted 6,542 Guns at US Airport Security in 2022

A monitor displays a "no guns" sign at the Transportation Security Administration security area at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta on Jan. 25, 2023. Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) intercepted a record 6,542 guns last year at airport checkpoints across the country. The number—roughly 18 per day—is an all-time high for gun interceptions at U.S. airports.

That’s a nearly 10 percent increase from the 2021 record level of 5,972 guns detected at airport checkouts. Eighty-eight percent of the weapons caught in 2022 were loaded, according to the agency. The TSA considers a weapon to be loaded if the passenger has access to both the gun and the ammunition.

“What we see in our checkpoints really reflects what we’re seeing in society, and in society there are more people carrying firearms nowadays,” TSA administrator David Pekoske said.

Guns have been intercepted literally from Burbank, California, to Bangor, Maine. But it tends to happen more at bigger airports in areas with laws more friendly to carrying a gun, Pekoske said.

The top 10 list for gun interceptions at airports in 2022 includes Dallas, Austin, and Houston in Texas; three airports in Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta; Phoenix; and Denver.