Florida

Record Number of Guns Intercepted at South Florida Airport Checkpoints: TSA

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has already set a single-year record for guns brought to checkpoints, with 103 to-date. The previous record was 100 in 2019

TSA

A record number of guns are being confiscated at airport security checkpoints in South Florida and throughout the state, Transportation Security Administration officials said Friday.

TSA officers stopped three loaded guns Thursday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the same day three guns were intercepted at Miami International Airport, two of which were loaded, TSA officials said.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has already set a single-year record for guns brought to checkpoints, with 103 to-date. The previous record was 100 in 2019.

Across the state 456 passengers have brought guns to the checkpoints, the same as in all of 2020.

"This is a troubling trend and one that threatens the safety of other passengers and our officers," TSA spokesperson Sari Koshetz said in a statement. "You see the way some travelers fling their bags onto the x-ray belt for screening, posing the risk of an accidental discharge with tragic results."

Anyone traveling with a gun must declare it to the airline upon check-in, have the gun unloaded and in a locked, hard-sided case and in their checked baggage. The traveler also has to know what the laws are on the other side of their trip.

Passengers found with guns face a civil penalty from the TSA that can reach as much as $13,910. If the traveler is in the TSA PreCheck program, those privileges will be lost for a period of time. And repeat offenders may lose their privileges permanently.

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