US airport firearms percentage doubled in 2020
- Health & Leisure
- Thursday, 04 February 2021
US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers detected twice as many firearms per million passengers screened at US airport security checkpoints in 2020 compared to 2019 and at a significantly higher rate than any other year since the agency’s inception.
Throughout 2020, TSA caught approximately 10 firearms per million passengers screened as compared to about five firearms per million passengers screened in 2019.
TSA officers discovered a total of 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags at checkpoints, although total passengers screened in 2020 fell by 500 million versus 2019 due to the pandemic.
TSA officers discovered a total of 3,257 firearms on passengers or in their carry-on bags at checkpoints, although total passengers screened in 2020 fell by 500 million versus 2019 due to the pandemic.
Of those firearms caught in 2020, about 83 per cent were loaded. In 2019, TSA officers stopped a record 4,432 firearms, of which 87 per cent were loaded.
Passengers with firearms at checkpoints were stopped at 234 airports across the US.
Passengers with firearms at checkpoints were stopped at 234 airports across the US.
The airport where TSA officers detected most guns at checkpoints in 2020 was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) with 220.