A record number of firearms were confiscated from passengers at US airports in 2022, with 6,301 guns, 88% of which were still loaded, transport sector officials said, BBC and News.ro reported.

US airport security checkPhoto: Ted Shaffrey/AP/Profimedia

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it expects to confiscate 6,600 guns by the end of the year, a 10 percent increase from 2021’s record high.

The agency noted that weapons brought into airports consume significant resources and are very expensive for passengers.

The number of weapons found exceeds the previous record last year, when 5,972 firearms were found.

Atlanta, Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport had the most firearms stops, while Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in Texas was second.

The reasons why several people tried to break through security with weapons in hand were not given.

Gun laws vary by state in the US, but firearms are prohibited from being carried on an airplane, even if the passenger has a gun permit.

If TSA officers detect a weapon at a security checkpoint, they impose a civil penalty that depends on the number of prior offenses and whether the weapon was loaded at the time.

The agency also said it would increase the maximum civil penalty for firearms violations from $13,910 to $14,950.

Under what conditions can passengers travel with firearms

Airline passengers may travel with firearms in checked baggage as long as they are unloaded and locked in a hard case.

Travelers must also notify airline representatives that they intend to travel with a firearm at check-in.

In April, U.S. Congresswoman Madison Cawthorne was stopped while trying to carry a security gun at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, local police said.

He admitted the gun belonged to him and cooperated with police.

The TSA said it screened more than 2.5 million people nationwide on Nov. 27 — the Sunday after Thanksgiving — the most since the pandemic began.

According to the Small Arms Survey, a leading Swiss research project, there were approximately 390 million guns in circulation in the US in 2018.