The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has found more than 1,500 firearms at U.S. airports during the first quarter of this year, according to data the agency released Thursday.
The agency intercepted 1,503 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year, marking a 16.5 firearm-per-day average, the data showed. The average dipped slightly from last year’s 16.8 firearms per day.
The average drop comes as more passengers were screened this year compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Transportation Security Officers have screened more than 206 million people, a 7.8 percent uptick from the 191 million scanned last year during the same time.
More than 93 percent of firearms were loaded in both periods.
“While it is certainly promising that the rate of passengers bringing firearms to the checkpoint has decreased, one firearm at the checkpoint is too many,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement.
The slight decrease in the average comes as the total number of firearms intercepted has risen in the past few years.
TSA intercepted more than 6,700 firearms in 2023, leaping over the 2022 record, during which more than 6,500 guns were apprehended.
Pekoske said that whenever the agency discovers a firearm at a security checkpoint, the line slows down for all passengers.
“The demand for air travel is as strong as ever and security is always our number one priority. Every time we discover a firearm at the checkpoint, the security screening process is slowed down for all,” he said.
Passengers can travel with guns, but they must be packed unloaded in their checked bags and declared to the airline.
Whenever TSA detects a firearm at a checkpoint, they have to call local law enforcement to unload and take possession of the weapon.