TSA reports slight dip in guns discovered at MSP airport checkpoints
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The number of firearms detected at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport security checkpoints dropped slightly in 2023, bucking a national trend.
The big picture: A record-high 6,737 guns were discovered at TSA checkpoints in 2023, Axios' Ivana Saric reports.
- 93% of them were loaded, TSA said in a press release.
Zoom in: At MSP, TSA officers discovered 53 while screening more than 13.4 million passengers and crew in 2023.
- That's down from 58 in 2022, but higher than in 2021.
Be smart: Federal regulations bar airline passengers from traveling with a loaded gun or with an unloaded firearm that's not declared to the airline ahead of time and properly stowed away in a hard-sided, locked container, Saric notes.
- Flyers caught with a gun can face civil penalties of up to $15,000, among other consequences.
Of note: While TSA doesn't confiscate firearms that are discovered, it does contact local law enforcement, which can take it away and either arrest or cite the passenger, depending on local law.