TSA Warns Of Massive Increase In Guns Being Found At Airports
The TSA confiscated a total of 6,542 guns from airports in 2022 and warns that the issue is pointing toward a more significant societal shift.
The United States has a gun problem, and it’s making itself evident at airports nationwide. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is seizing guns from travelers and luggage at airports at record rates. And top officials warn that this alarming issue is only getting worse.
In 2022, a total of 6,542 improperly packed guns were confiscated at airports, according to NBC News. But perhaps more concerning than the number of guns that were found and seized is the fact that reportedly 88% of them were loaded. And to make matters worse, the TSA told the BBC that 2023 is on track to be worse than 2022.
To put this issue into perspective, in the month of January alone, multiple guns were found at airports in Atlanta, Washington DC, Seattle, and Indianapolis, and that is just scratching the service. On Valentine’s Day at an airport in New Orleans, a gun was discovered packed with an excessive amount of ammunition. What’s more, that frightening gun discovery wasn’t even the first of the day.
Brian Schihabel, TSA Federal Security Director for Nebraska told the BBC that “This is not a new problem.” But Schihabel said that the rate at which guns are being found at airports has now reached a point where things have just gotten too out of hand. And thus far, the TSA’s efforts to rein in the issue have been failing miserably.
In an attempt to combat the increasing number of guns being found and seized at airports, the TSA has increased the maximum fine to $14,950 and implemented stricter penalties. However, the numbers don’t lie and despite the TSA’s best efforts the numbers keep climbing. TSA administrator David Pekoske believes that the current situation is indicative of the overall state of society.
“What we see in our checkpoints really reflects what we’re seeing in society. In society there are more people carrying firearms nowadays,” Pekoske said to the Associated Press. Society in the United States is shifting and changing on a fundamental level. The reasons why are multifaceted and nearly impossible to detail in brief (the pandemic, heightening political polarization, and global tensions are just a few of the many reasons), but the effects are unmistakable and guns being found at airports are just one piece of a greater whole.
In addition to more guns being found at airports, the economy can’t make up its mind and refuses to respond to the Federal Reserve’s usual tactics to get it under control. Science and technology have crossed a new threshold and are raising profound questions related to artificial intelligence and its uses. And natural disasters and other weather-related incidents are occurring at levels not seen in recent history, and that’s evident regardless of one’s personal position on climate change.
To put it plainly, people are scared, they realize that society is in uncharted territory and are responding in kind. Hence, more and more guns are being found at airports. And the solution to mitigate the problem is one that still remains unclear because the problem’s very existence is hedging on a greater issue that is still taking shape and has yet to be fully realized.
