The Transportation Security Administration saw an increase in guns caught last year at airport security checkpoints in Pennsylvania.
The TSA said in a news release that 103 firearms were were detected at airport security, an increase from 82 found in 2022.
Lehigh Valley International Airport only had one such incident in 2023, and there were no incidents like that in 2022. But the amount of guns caught by TSA at Philadelphia International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport set records, according to the release.
The TSA caught 45 guns in Philadelphia and 43 in Pittsburgh, breaking the records of 44 and 35, respectively.
The increase in guns caught by security follows a trend seen nationally, according to the TSA. Last year there were 6,737 guns caught at airport security checkpoints throughout the country, an increase from 6,542 in 2022.
The amount caught last year is more than seven times what was caught in 2008. That year there were 926 guns found at security checkpoints nationwide, according to the TSA. It’s been increasingly steadily since then, TSA data shows.
Firearms have been caught at checkpoints at Lehigh Valley International Airport 22 times since 2017, according to the TSA.
Those caught with firearms at checkpoints can face criminal charges as well as civil penalties from the TSA, according to the release.
Travelers with the necessary permits can legally travel with firearms in checked bags if the guns are unloaded and packed in a locked, hard-side case. Ammunition must be in its original box in the hard-side case, next to the firearm, according to the release.
