Nov. 05--Tulsa International Airport may lose one of its exit points because the Transportation Security Administration plans to cut funding to staff the areas.
The exit point next to the TSA security lines is the same type used by the gunman in last week's fatal shooting at Los Angeles International Airport, which killed one TSA officer and injured two others.
Tulsa International Airport was normal over the weekend, said airport spokeswoman Alexis Higgins.
"With this particular scenario, if someone has intent to do harm, they could do it at a grocery store or a convenience store," Higgins said. "If you are at an airport, people tend to be on guard and any person working at an airport is more vigilant."
The Department of Homeland Security, which heads the TSA, announced earlier this year that it was planning to cut funding at airports nationwide for TSA officers at exit points in the airport.
Tulsa has three checkpoints -- two near the concourses heading out toward baggage claim, and another next to the TSA security lines.
Tulsa has security guards at the exits near each concourse. Those exits also use special revolving doors that automatically trap a person trying to walk through in the wrong direction.
The exit lane near the TSA security checkpoint is manned by TSA agents.
Higgins said that if the TSA stops manning exit lanes, the airport plans to close that exit lane altogether.
"It is mostly used by airport employees like our cleaning staff and food workers," she said. "Not many passengers use it because it would mean going back through the security lines again."
In addition to security guards, Tulsa International Airport also has its own police force, whose officers carry weapons and respond to incidents at the airport.
Airports nationwide have objected to the TSA's plans, especially because there have not been any indications that airports will be reimbursed for providing their own security.
So far this year 11 guns have been intercepted by TSA officials at Tulsa International Airport, after government agents confiscated 14 guns from passengers in 2012.
The latest was a loaded .38-caliber pistol, confiscated on Oct. 15.
Airport officials say that most passengers who bring guns into the airport have concealed weapons permits and simply forget that they are carrying a weapon.
