TSA Week in Review: 32 Firearms Discovered in Carry-on Bags, a Sickle, and More
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| Loaded firearm discovered in carry-on bag at ATL |
32 Firearms Discovered This Week – Of the 32 firearms, 26 were loaded and 13 had rounds chambered.
Artfully Concealed Prohibited Items – It's important to examine your bags prior to traveling to ensure you are not carrying any prohibited items. If a prohibited item is discovered in your bag or on your body, you could be cited and possibly arrested by law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were found by our officers in strange places.
- A lipstick knife was discovered in a carry-on bag at Buffalo (BUF).
Sickle - A sickle was discovered in a carry-on bag at Newark (EWR).
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| Sickle (EWR) |
Inert Ordnance and Grenades etc. – We continue to find inert grenades and other weaponry on a weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a real bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited. When these items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays because the explosives detection professionals must respond to resolve the alarm. Even if they are novelty items, you are prohibited from bringing them on the aircraft. Read here on why inert items cause problems.
- Three inert grenades and 115 inert rounds contained in a WWII style military helmet were discovered in checked baggage at Denver (DEN).
- An inert grenade was detected in checked baggage at Grand Junction (GJT).
- Grenade shaped cologne bottles were discovered in carry-on bags at Minneapolis (MSP) and Sacramento (SMF).
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| Inert Grenade (GJT), Grenade-shaped Cologne (MSN) |
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| From left, items discovered at: FAT, EWR, DAL, ALB, BUR and LAX |
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| Knives & grenade-shaped cologne discovered in passenger's bag at SMF |
Stun Guns – 20 stun guns were discovered in carry-on bags this week. Three were discovered at Sacramento (SMF), two at Dallas Love (DAL), two at Orange County (SNA), two at Phoenix (PHX), two at San Juan (SJU), and the remainder were discovered at Bozeman (BZN), Kansas City (MCI), Minneapolis (MSP), Mobile (MOB), Portland (PDX), Providence (PVD), Rochester (ROC), San Francisco (SFO), and Tulsa (TUL).
Ammunition – When packed properly, ammunition can be transported in your checked baggage, but it is never permissible to pack ammo in your carry-on bag.
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| Clockwise from top left, firearms discovered at: BNA, IAH, TUL, TPA, PHX & ONT |
*In order to provide a timely weekly update, this data is compiled from a preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly from what is reported in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear or end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will be actual numbers and not 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 line 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. 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 TSA Blog Year in Review for 2013 . You can also check out 2011 & 2012 as well.