The TSA found a record 6,542 firearms in carry-on luggage at 262 different airports in 2022, according to the agency's annual round-up.
Let's put those numbers in perspective: Out of 761 million screenings across the country, 8.6 firearms were found for every million passengers. Put another way, the TSA found one firearm for every 116,394 passengers.
Among the firearms found, the TSA said 88 percent were loaded.
Many of these airports were located across the U.S. South. These are the top 10 worst-offenders:
Austin and Tampa are both new additions to the list. They replaced Louis Armstrong New Orleans International and Salt Lake City International.
Yet southern airports weren't the only ones to see an uptick in gun-toting passengers. New York City airports reported finding 39 handguns at checkpoints in 2022, up from 26 in 2021.
Here's what happens when the TSA stumbles upon a firearm during a security screening. Airport staff will immediately notify local law enforcement officers, who then remove the weapon from the X-ray tunnel and contact the passenger. From there, law enforcement has some discretion based on local laws, but the TSA can in some cases levy a civil penalty.
The agency said it weighs a number of factors when deciding to penalize a traveler, such as whether the firearm was loaded or if there was ammunition accessible nearby. Even if a traveler has a concealed weapons permit, it added, firearms are not permitted in carry-on luggage.
All passengers must declare their firearm during the check-in process.
Lithium ion battery fires have been on the rise across the country since about 2019 due to the increasing number of e-bikes and scooters on the road. Cheddar’s own Ashley Mastronardi spoke to a business owner who was personally affected by an e-bike blaze.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has formed a panel aimed at improving the safety and reliability of the nation's air traffic system after several close calls on airport runways during takeoffs and landings.
Donald Trump's lawyer sought Thursday to pick apart a decades-old rape claim against the former president, questioning why accuser E. Jean Carroll did not scream or seek help when Trump allegedly attacked her in a department store.
Some residents along the swelling Upper Mississippi River evacuated their homes this week while others scrambled Wednesday to stack sandbags in preparation for what forecasters say could be near-record flooding caused by the rapid melting of a huge snowpack in northern Minnesota.
Cheddar News correspondent Shannon LaNier continues his weeklong series, Shannon Shapes Up, exploring alternative ways to get fit. In today's episode, he learns about the benefits of surfing as exercise with Aaron Thouvenin, owner of Surf Set in midtown Manhattan.
U.N. officials said Tuesday that one side in the Sudan conflict has seized control of a national health lab in the capital of Khartoum that holds biological material, calling it an “extremely dangerous” development.
A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
