Airports are Finding More Guns in Carry-on Bags -- Even Though Fewer People are Flying

The number of guns that airport security officials found in July at checkpoints was three times higher than what it was a year ago in July, the Transportation Safety Administration announced Monday.

TSA officers detected 15.3 guns per million people last month compared to 5.1 guns per million people screened during July 2019. According to TSA it screened about 75% fewer passengers in July 2020, over the past year’s volume.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport found four guns at its checkpoint in July. That was the ninth-highest amount in the country. Atlanta led the country with 27 guns found.

In July 2019, New Orleans airport officials caught five guns at security.

Other airports that caught four guns include Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; Detroit; Chicago's Midway Airport; Memphis; and Tampa.

Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared at check-in with the airline. It's illegal to carry firearms in carry-on baggage.

Flight schedules at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport have been slowly recovering after their near-complete shutdown in April, but the rebound may stall in the coming months amid worries that airlines will further reduce flights and lay off staff.

The latest airport data showed that domestic flights to and from the Kenner facility had recovered from a near stand-still in April to about 20% of the normal schedule in May, or a little more than 1,000 flights out of the more than 5,000 that were seen each month before the pandemic.

———

Visit The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate at www.nola.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.