Flyers keep bringing guns to Atlanta airport, setting record

Associated Press | AP

April 8th, 2022

In this Friday, May 27, 2016, file photo taken from video, travelers pass through the main security gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. A man accused of accidentally firing a gun in his bag at the Atlanta airport, causing temporary chaos and prompting a temporary ground stop on flights, has turned himself in, police said Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeff Martin, File)

Atlanta’s airport set a record during the first quarter of this year in the amount of guns caught at security checkpoints.

Transportation Security Administration officers found 94 guns at security checkpoints during the first quarter of 2022, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. That set a record, and compares to 89 guns detected in carry-on bags in the same period last year.

Last year, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport broke previous annual records with 507 firearms detected.

One out of 11 of all of the guns detected at airport security checkpoints nationwide is caught at Atlanta’s airport, TSA spokesman Mark Howell said.

Air passengers face federal civil penalties of up to $13,900 if they bring firearms in carry-on luggage to airport security checkpoints.

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