TSA finds a record 43 firearms in baggage at Midway Airport this year

TSA

The Transportation Security Administration has detected a record 43 firearms at Midway Airport so far this year.

TSA agents detected a handgun in a passenger’s carry-on bag Friday, breaking the previous annual record of 42 firearms, set in 2021, according to a statement from TSA.

After the firearm was detected on the X-ray screen, a TSA officer alerted Chicago police who confiscated the weapon.

TSA determines the penalty amount for a firearm violation on a case-by-case basis, but fines can reach up to $14,950. The agency will also revoke TSA PreCheck eligibility for at least five years for any passenger caught at a checkpoint with a firearm.

“It’s troubling that we’ve set an all-time record for firearms stopped at the checkpoint with two months still left in the year,” Illinois TSA Federal Security Director Dereck Starks said in a statement. “In addition to the serious safety risk these incidents pose, they also slow down the screening process for all passengers when we’re forced to temporarily close down a lane.”

Nationwide, officers have intercepted 5,072 firearms at airport security checkpoints, placing them on track to pass last year’s record of 6,542 firearms.

So far this year, officers have detected 59 firearms at O’Hare Airport— with 11 found last month alone. In 2022, there were 85 firearms stopped at O’Hare checkpoints.

Passengers are allowed to bring firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter. However, with varying laws across the country, passengers must check firearm possession laws in the jurisdictions they are flying to and from.