The U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced today that, in 2022, it detected a record 6,542 firearms in carry-on bags or on passengers at checkpoints. That’s a sizeable jump from the 5,972 detected in 2021 and a spike compared with the 4,432 detected in 2019. Of the guns caught in 2022, approximately 88 percent were loaded. Firearms were caught at 262 airport checkpoints nationwide.

The Wall Street Journal’s write-up includes these eye-opening anecdotes:

Transportation Security Administration officers confiscated more than 6,542 firearms from airport passengers in 2022 — the highest number recorded since the agency's inception. Of those guns taken at airport security checkpoints, 88% were loaded, the agency announced Tuesday.  

The confiscations by TSA mark a nearly 10% increase over the 5,972 firearms seized in 2021, which was also a record. 

The agency announced in December that it was raising the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 to $14,950. 

The Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday that travel returned to pre-pandemic levels, with around 2 million passengers screened a day, but 2022 also set a new record for firearm interceptions.

The agency reported that it confiscated 6,542 firearms in 2022, 88% of which were loaded, at security checkpoints. That’s an increase of more than 500 firearms in 2021, which saw a record of 5,972 firearms.