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Tag: Transportation Security Administration

  • TSA officers find homemade gun and hatchet inside traveler’s carry-on bag

    TSA officers find homemade gun and hatchet inside traveler’s carry-on bag

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    Airport security agents stopped a traveler at Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine, last week, as the man attempted to pass through the checkpoint with a homemade gun and hatchet packed into his carry-on luggage, the Transportation Security Administration said.

    Recounting the incident in a tweet shared to the official TSA New England account, spokesperson Dan Velez said local law enforcement officers were ultimately called to the scene.

    “Yesterday @portlandjetport, @TSA officers detected this homemade firearm in a man’s carry-on bag,” Velez wrote on Twitter. “They also found a hatchet in the bag.”

    The Portland Police Department was contacted following the agents’ discovery, and officers dispatched to the airport confiscated the homemade weapon, the TSA spokesperson said, noting that the recent find marked the third “firearm detection” at Portland International Jetport this year.

    TSA agents also flagged other weapons that airline passengers attempted to improperly transport at Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport recently.

    “A couple of nice carry-on bag detections by our @TSA officers @Bradley_Airport yesterday,” Velez wrote in another message shared to Twitter on Friday. “This double-edged knife and replica gun lighter are items that should be properly packed in your checked bag.”

    Traveling with firearms is legal in the U.S., as long as people looking to fly with guns and ammunition abide by TSA guidelines for proper transport. Anyone who wishes to board a plane with weapons must first unload them before packing the items in hard-sided containers and placing them in their checked bags. Weapons must be declared at the airport ticket counter when travelers arrive at airports for their flights.

    Airport security agents confiscated a record-high number of weapons at checkpoints across the U.S. in 2022, the TSA announced on Friday. According to the agency, its officers confiscated 6,301 firearms — 88% of which were loaded — from passengers since the beginning of this year, and expects that another 500 will be confiscated before 2023. The number of weapons confiscated so far represents more than a 10% increase from the 5,972 firearms seized last year.


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  • TSA raising fines after finding record guns in carry-ons

    TSA raising fines after finding record guns in carry-ons

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    The Transportation Security Administration is raising the fine for people caught with a gun in their carry-on bag after intercepting a record number of firearms at security checkpoints this year.

    The TSA said Friday it’s raising the maximum fine to $14,950. Previously it was $13,910.

    TSA officers have found 6,301 firearms in carry-on bags so far this year, surpassing the previous record of 5,972 detected in 2021. The numbers have been increasing steadily over the last decade; in 2012, 1,549 firearms were detected at security checkpoints.

    Eighty-eight percent of the guns found this year were loaded, the TSA said.

    Firearm possession laws vary by location, but guns are never allowed in carry-on bags at any airport security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed-weapon permit. Passengers transporting firearms must do so in a locked case in checked baggage. They also must declare them to the airline, the TSA said.

    At a congressional hearing earlier this year, some lawmakers and airport administrators called for higher fines, gun safety classes for violators and other measures. They said the maximum fines were rarely imposed and clearly weren’t working as a deterrent.

    But other lawmakers said most of the passengers who get caught simply forgot they were carrying a gun, and higher fines won’t stop that problem.

    When the TSA finds a gun, it generally checks to see if it was stolen or involved in a previous crime. The agency may also confiscate the gun.

    In addition to the fine —— an amount determined by the TSA based on the circumstances of each case —— the TSA will revoke PreCheck eligibility for at least five years for anyone caught with a gun at a security checkpoint. Passengers may also be arrested for a firearms violation depending on the state or local laws in the airport’s location.

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  • Cat’s out of the bag when TSA finds stowaway feline at JFK

    Cat’s out of the bag when TSA finds stowaway feline at JFK

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    This photo provided by Transportation Security Administration shows a cat stuck in a checked bag going through security at John F. Kennedy airport on Nov. 16, 2022 in New York. The stowaway cat, identified as “Smells,” was returned to its owner. The cat's owner said that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn't know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her. (Transportation Security Administration via AP)
    This photo provided by Transportation Security Administration shows a cat stuck in a checked bag going through security at John F. Kennedy airport on Nov. 16, 2022 in New York. The stowaway cat, identified as “Smells,” was returned to its owner. The cat's owner said that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn't know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her. (Transportation Security Administration via AP)
    This photo provided by Transportation Security Administration shows a cat stuck in a checked bag going through security at John F. Kennedy airport on Nov. 16, 2022 in New York. The stowaway cat, identified as “Smells,” was returned to its owner. The cat's owner said that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn't know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her. (Transportation Security Administration via AP)

    This photo provided by Transportation Security Administration shows a cat stuck in a checked bag going through security at John F. Kennedy airport on Nov. 16, 2022 in New York. The stowaway cat, identified as “Smells,” was returned to its owner. The cat’s owner said that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn’t know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her. (Transportation Security Administration via AP)

    This photo provided by Transportation Security Administration shows a cat stuck in a checked bag going through security at John F. Kennedy airport on Nov. 16, 2022 in New York. The stowaway cat, identified as “Smells,” was returned to its owner. The cat’s owner said that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn’t know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her. (Transportation Security Administration via AP)

    NEW YORK (AP) — Don’t accuse the TSA of catnapping on the job. When an alert agent at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport noticed tufts of orange fur poking out of a slightly unzipped suitcase, it gave him pause.

    As the bag went through the X-ray unit Nov. 16, the Transportation Security Administration agent was in for a surprise: Inside were four paws and a tail belonging to a feline stowaway.

    “On the bright side, the cat’s out of the bag,” a TSA spokesperson tweeted Tuesday.

    The passenger was paged to return to the ticket counter after the cat was found, the spokesperson, Lisa Farbstein, said in an email.

    “The traveler said that the cat belonged to someone else in the household, implying that he was not aware that the cat was in the suitcase,” Farbstein said.

    “We call that a good CATch!” she said.

    The stowaway cat, identified by the New York Post as “Smells,” was returned to its owner.

    The cat’s owner told the Post that Smells must have crawled into the suitcase of a visiting friend. She didn’t know her tabby was missing until airport officials reached her.

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