TSA Found Record Number of Firearms in Carry-On Bags in 2015

In 2015, TSA officers intercepted 2,653 firearms in carry-on bags at airport security checkpoints across the United States. This is nearly 20 percent more than in the previous record-setting year. In 2014, TSA officers discovered 2,212 firearms in carry-on bags.

In its 2015 Statistics report, TSA revealed:

TSA screened more than 708 million passengers in 2015 (more than 1.9 million per day), which is 40.7 million more passengers than in 2014.
TSA screened more than 2 million passengers in a single day 178 times this year.
TSA screened more than 432 million checked bags, more than 1.6 billion carry-on bags and 12.9 million airport employees.
Federal Air Marshals flew more than a billion miles this past year to keep travelers safe.
Nationwide, 98 percent of passengers waited in line less than 20 minutes and more than 99 percent of TSA Pre✓® passengers waited less than five minutes.
The TSA Pre✓® application program, which began in December 2013, enrolled over 1 million travelers in 2015, and reached a total of 2 million enrollees as of early January 2016. In addition to these enrollments, CBP trusted travelers — those enrolled in other trusted traveler programs such as Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI — are also automatically eligible for TSA Pre✓®.
Forty-four percent of passengers screened in 2015 received some form of expedited screening.

Of the 2,653 firearms discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, 2,198 (82.8 percent) were loaded. Firearms were intercepted at 236 airports; 12 more airports than last year.

The airports with the most firearm discoveries in 2015 were: