TSA Firearm Confiscation Cases Up For Another Year

At San Diego's Lindbergh Field, 11 firearms were detected in 2014.

Gun seizures are up for airports across the country, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

At the close of Christmas Day 2014, TSA detected 2,164 firearms at checkpoints nationwide. That's more than three times the amount of seizures in 2005, and almost twice as many as 2012, and 22 percent more than 2013, according to numbers reported on TSA's blog.

At San Diego's Lindbergh Field, 11 firearms were detected in 2014. That's less than Los Angeles and San Francisco, both of which had 17 detected firearms, the report says.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, where gun laws are much more lax, TSA detected 118 firearms at security checks - the most in the country for 2014.

"What we're seeing is a continuation of an overall trend going back at least ten years," said CTI Consultant VP Trenton Higareda. "In 2005, you had maybe 6...650 guns confiscated at U.S. airports nationwide. This year it's probably tripled that."

Security checks at airports across the country check travelers and their luggage for prohibited items such as weapons and ammunition. TSA reports they screen more than 1.75 million people every day using imaging technology and X-ray machines.

"TSA takes the discovery of prohibited items seriously and urges all passengers to check the contents of their bags before leaving home to ensure they are not bringing any prohibited items to the airport — including firearms, firearm parts and ammunition," TSA's blog reads. "Firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags, but can be transported in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline."

Fines for attempting to bring a firearm or explosives through airport security can range from $1,500 to $11,000 for a single civil penalty. Criminal penalties can be attached as well. All firearms brought through security are referred to law enforcement and subject to prosecution.

Numbers were also made available for the days following Christmas. Of the airports listed above, only San Francisco had an incident when an unloaded 357 was detected in a passenger's carry-on bag on New Year's Eve, according to TSA.

Additional information, including numbers for other airports, can be found on the TSA website.

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