TSA find 74 guns at IND airport checkpoints in 2021
INDIANAPOLIS (WIBC) — Transportation Security Administration officers found 74 handguns at security checkpoints at Indianapolis International Airport in 2021.
In 2020, TSA officers in Indianapolis found 36 guns at security checkpoints. In 2019, they found 62.
“While our passenger volumes have not yet fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing even higher numbers of firearms, most of them loaded. Passengers are strictly prohibited from bringing firearms on board planes, and our TSA officers are laser-focused on security and preventing weapons from getting through our checkpoints.”
Kevin Bidwell, acting Indiana TSA federal security director
At airports nationwide, TSA officers found 5,972 firearms at security checkpoints, surpassing the record of 4,432 guns caught in 2019. The TSA says a majority of the guns found — 86% — were loaded.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was number one in 2021, with 507 guns found by TSA officers at security checkpoints.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (317 guns), Houston’s George Bush International Airport (245 guns), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (196 guns), and Nashville International Airport (163 guns) rounded out the top five.
Fines for bringing a loaded gun into a security checkpoint range from $3,000 to $13,910, while fines for an unloaded gun range from $1,500 – $2,475.
Passengers can travel with guns in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter.