TSA screeners seized more than 2,600 firearms from carry-on luggage in 2015, the airport security agency said Thursday, acknowledging the dubious new record as it announced its year-end totals.
More than 708 million passengers were screened by the Transportation Security Agency, and of those some 14 million stood in line for more than 20 minutes waiting to be screened, the agency admitted. Still, the TSA said those who enrolled in its pre-check program almost always got through the lines in less than 5 minutes.
The number of firearms nabbed at checkpoints has steadily grown every year, from under 1,000 in 2009 to 2,653 last year. The worst airports were in Dallas, Atlanta and Houston, with Denver and Phoenix trailing. Some 153 firearms were seized at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, or nearly one every other day, in 2015.
More than 80 percent of the guns were loaded, the TSA said.
Screeners also found black powder, live smoke and flashbang grenades and ammunition.
And one person — a member of the U.S. military — tried to carry a replica IED training kit onto a plane in Seattle.
“Inert IED training aids are never permitted in carry-on or checked bags,” the TSA said in a blog detailing its 2015 record.
The agency suffered a black eye last year when an internal report said the agency regularly failed to catch weapons in a controlled audit of its airport screening.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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