LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Airport security officers have found 68 firearms in hand luggage at McCarran International Airport so far this year.
It’s a growing problem at airports and follows statistics released in January that showed 72 firearms were discovered in hand luggage at McCarran for all of 2020.
While that’s a lot of guns, this year’s census doesn’t even place Las Vegas in the top 10 nationwide, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
“The number of firearms our TSA officers stop at airport controls is alarming,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “Firearms, especially loaded firearms, pose an unnecessary risk at checkpoints, have no space in the passenger cabin of an aircraft, and are a very costly mistake for passengers trying to board them.”
A national report by the TSA shows that as of October 3, 4,495 weapons were discovered.
That’s a record in a single year that broke 4,432 guns found in 2019, and there are still many months of travel to come.
(TSA)
The reveal comes in a year when unruly passengers are a huge problem for airlines.
The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed heavy fines on passengers who got out of control in incidents such as assault on aircrews.
Cities with the highest number of firearms found are:
- 391 – Atlanta
- 232 – Dallas (Dallas-Fort Worth)
- 168 – Houston
- 147 – Phoenix
- 115 – Nashville
- 107 – Denver
- 107 – Fort Lauderdale
- 90 – Salt Lake City
- 90 – New Orleans
- 88 – Dallas (love field)
