DFW Airport Ranks 2nd in Guns Found on Passengers by TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on January 18 that nationwide, TSA officers discovered a total of 5,972 firearms at airport security checkpoints, a significant increase from over three thousand in 2020 and 4,432 in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.   

“The rate of guns caught at checkpoints nationwide came to 10.2 firearms per million passengers in 2021,” the TSA press release said. “Of the guns caught in 2021, approximately 86 percent were loaded. Firearms were caught at 268 airport checkpoints nationwide.”  

DFW International ranked second on the list of airports where TSA agents discovered the most guns at checkpoints in 2021 with a total of 317, second only behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. The guns found at DFW International account for just over 5% of all the gun-TSA incidents in the U.S.   

TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CBS News he wasn’t sure what was causing an increase in guns at airports.   

“What’s causing it?” he said, “I don’t know exactly, but generally I think our weapons carriage detections reflect just more people carrying weapons in the country.”  

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport followed just after DFW, ranked third in the U.S., ahead of Phoenix Sky Harbor, Nashville International, and Denver International.  

According to The Dallas Morning News, TSA officers discovered 112 guns at Dallas Love Field, breaking the previous year’s record of 102. 

The TSA says that passengers may check firearms as long as they are unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and stored separately from ammunition. Ammunition must be in its original packaging and kept in the hard-side case with the firearm. Even if the ammunition box isn’t full, the bullets must be in their original cases.   

Travelers should bring their firearm cases to the airline check-in counter and inform the airline representative that they wish to travel with the firearm.

Firearms are transported in checked baggage and stowed in the belly of the plane so that no one has access to them while onboard. The TSA lists guidelines for traveling with a firearm on its website. 

Individuals who break the rules about traveling with firearms will have their Trusted Traveler status and TSA PreCheck expedited screening benefits revoked for a period of time, in addition to facing civil monetary penalties.

The TSA adds that individuals who bring weapons to a checkpoint face fines of up to $13,900 in civil penalties. The complete list of penalties is available here.