Blasting Cap Discovered – A blasting cap was discovered along with an M60 fuse lighter in a passenger's checked bag at the Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) in Kansas.
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| Loaded Gun Discovered at HOU |
33 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 33 firearms, 30 were loaded and 13 had rounds chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.
Bag Catches Fire in Atlantic City - This week at Atlantic City (ACY) a traveler's checked bag blew open with three foot high flames and smoke. The cause? A large leaking can of hairspray was ignited by the spark of a lighter when the bag was loaded onto the rollers. No one was injured.
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| (Left to Right - Top to Bottom) Cane Sword (ORD), Cane Sword (LGB), Pick Axe (BWI), Spear (BWI) |
Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – It's important to examine your bags prior to traveling to ensure no prohibited items are inside. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your body, you could be cited and quite possibly arrested by local law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were found by our officers in strange places.
- A 16-inch sword was found concealed inside the cane of a traveler at Chicago O'Hare (ORD).
- A 2-foot sword was detected concealed in the cane of a Long Beach (LGB) passenger.
- A brush dagger was discovered at Philadelphia (PHL)
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| (Left to Right) Stun Guns Discovered at ATL, JAX, AXA, LAS, SAN, TUL, ATL, SGF |
Stun Guns –Nine stun guns were discovered this week in carry-on bags around the nation. Two were discovered at Atlanta (ATL), and one was discovered at each of the following airports: Baltimore (BWI), Phoenix-Mesa (AZA), Jacksonville (JAX), Las Vegas (LAS), San Diego (SAN), Springfield-Branson (SGF), and Tulsa (TUL).
Inert Ordnance and Grenades etc. - We continue to find inert hand grenades and other weaponry on a weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays in checkpoint screening. While they may be novelty items, you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here on why inert items cause problems.
- A large plastic bag containing two inert smoke grenades and a six ounce inert container of police mace was discovered in checked baggage at Denver (DEN).
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| Inert Grenades (DEN) |
Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, Airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things…
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| (Left to Right - Top to Bottom) Cleaver (BWI), Brush Dagger (PHL), Large Knife (SAN) |
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| (Left to Right - Top to Bottom) Three Knives (PHL), Multiple Knives (BWI), Credit Card Knife (BWI), Throwing Knives (SAN), Switchblade (BWI) |
Airsoft Guns – An Airsoft gun was discovered in a carry-on bag at Appleton (ATW). Airsoft guns are prohibited in carry-on bags, but allowed in checked baggage. Read this post for more information: TSA Travel Tips Tuesday: Traveling With Airsoft Guns
Firearms Discovered This Week in Carry-On Bags
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| (Top to Bottom - Left to Right) Firearms Discovered at AUS, AUS, ATL, DTW, FLL, MAF, SMF, OKC, STL |
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| (Top to Bottom - Left to Right) Firearms Discovered at JAX, ATL, DTW, HOU, IND, SJU, FLL |
*In order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from what I report in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be estimates.
You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.
Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it's great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.
If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you check out our post highlighting the dangerous, scary, and downright unusual items our officers found in 2012. The 2011 list can be found here.