'Huge problem': Passengers are bringing a record number of guns to the airport, TSA says

[riversedge]

I will never understand America's obsession with guns. Never.





'Huge problem': Passengers are bringing a record number of guns to the airport, TSA says

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/tsa-guns/index.html
By Gregory Wallace and Pete Muntean, CNN

Updated 1913 GMT (0313 HKT) October 13, 2021



(CNN)Airline passengers are bringing guns to the airport in numbers never seen before, and it is a "huge problem," the Transportation Security Administration chief told CNN.

Security and law enforcement officials are at the same time dealing with an unprecedented surge in belligerent passengers who are straining the systems designed to keep air travel safe.
.....................................

TSA reports catching 4,650 firearms at checkpoints in the first 10 months of the year -- a majority of which were loaded. That number surpasses the full-year record of 4,432, set in 2019.


Those unruly passengers are also at previously unseen levels.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that airline crews have reported 4,724 incidents this year, including 98 in the last week. It has opened more than 880 investigations; in a typical year, it conducts about 180 investigations.
The penalties for attempting to bring a firearm through a checkpoint start at about $2,500 for an unloaded weapon and range up to $10,000 for a loaded weapon. Penalties are higher for subsequent offenses, although Pekoske said they rarely see repeat offenders. The agency can also revoke PreCheck membership, local authorities may criminally prosecute, and in the Pittsburgh area, TSA says a sheriff's department has agreed to revoke concealed carry permits for individuals who try to bring a gun through a checkpoint. ..........................

[secondwind]

1. I cannot imagine many of these folks are flying out of NYC/La Guardia/JFK

[gojoe12]

17. Right?! I was thinking the same nt

[OLDMDDEM]

2. Neither will most Americans

The majority of Americans want stricter gun laws. But, guess whose bought and paid for.

[Walleye]

3. I'm 72. Have lived in Hollywood,Ca. And Manhattan, Hells kitchen

Never once said to myself, Gee I wish I had a gun. I think most Americans are like me, the problem is of course that the minority is running things

[elias7]

4. A weird and disturbed minority at that. The worst that humanity has to offer...

[LakeArenal]

5. There's guns in many many houses in WI

Mr Lake had 9 guns to sell when we moved to Costa Rica. Not once did we think it would be okay to take a gun to an airport.

That is who the majority of gun owners are.

Doesn’t mean we aren’t for gun control, registration, classes etc.

[Walleye]

11. I know many gun owners who are intelligent responsible rational people

Certainly if I lived on the edge of the woods or the desert I would want a firearm. Even here in the woods there are rabid raccoons etc. my grandfather was a member of the NRA when it was about hunting and Field and Stream magazine.The people who stockpile weapons to use against other people that really scare me. Do they think that they would be nothing without a gun?

[LakeArenal]

13. Penis envy.....

[Jerry2144]

31. I love the edge of the desert

And don’t have or want one. I do have coyotes in my neighborhood (and road runners) but never felt a need to have one because I would be hard-pressed to use it for its intended purpose. I am prior military and can shoot accurately, but have no desire to kill anything except toss dang housefly buzzing me right now. However, it acknowledge that there are legitimate needs to have weapons (hunting to feed family, protect from wildlife, etc) but don’t see a need for anyone to be able to squeeze off several rounds per minute, have anti-personnel rounds, or be able to shoot more than 6-10 shots before reloading. If you need more than one shot at a time ( two for birds) for hunting, you probably shouldn’t be hunting. And you don’t need huge magazines and rapid sitting to defend your home unless the zombie apocalypse or alien invasion occurs. You would never be able to stand up against our military or militarized police

[TeamProg]

34. With the decline in the interest of hunting, gun manufacturers had to increase demand by coming up

with 'home protection' mentality to sell more guns.

"Be paranoid, people (mostly brown and black) in the street are out to steal your stuff, storm your track house, and rape your wives and daughters."

Ca-Ching!
$$$$$$$

Hunting license applications have been on the decline since the 1970's.


""Do they think that they would be nothing without a gun?""

Good point. This kind of thinking goes hand in hand with their view that the gov't is worthless and cannot protect them.

[former9thward]

36. I see no decline in hunting

2006 15,100,000 2019 15,090,000

https://www.statista.com/statistics/191244/participants-in-hunting-in-the-us-since-2006/

You say the 1970s. I don't have any stats from then. Do you?'

In terms of self defense let's hear from President Biden:

I said, “Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.” Most people can handle a shotgun a hell of a lot better than they can a semiautomatic weapon in terms of both their aim and in terms of their ability to deter people coming.

VP Biden interview with Field & Stream in 2013

https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/guns/2013/02/gun-control-joe-biden-interview/

[TeamProg]

46. Here you go!

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Hunting+license+applications+have+been+on+the+decline+since+the+1970%27s


Excerpts below

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593001800/decline-in-hunters-threatens-how-u-s-pays-for-conservation

In rural Wisconsin, the passion for hunting still appears to burn as bright as the blaze orange jackets you'll see stalking through fields or clambering up into trees during deer season. But stop into a meat processing center or a sporting goods store, ask about it at a bar or a hunting shack and you'll hear from people like Wrasse: Fewer people are hunting. "It's just kind of fading away," he says.

A new survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that today, only about 5 percent of Americans, 16 years old and older, actually hunt. That's half of what it was 50 years ago and the decline is expected to accelerate over the next decade.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's not shocking that hunting has become less popular in recent years. ... In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Survey of Fishing and Hunting details the decline, noting that the number of American hunters dropped from 13.6 million in 2011 to 11.4 million in 2016.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Department of Fish and Wildlife also notes the popularity of its advanced hunting education classes, which attract participants from around the Bay Area. Some of the attendees have never hunted before; others are seasoned veterans. The ability to meet other Bay Area hunting enthusiasts and exchange contact information goes hand-in-hand with the chance to pluck and gut a few mallards during the class.

Some advocacy groups, however, are pleased to see a dwindling interest in hunting — and point out that there’s been a surge in other outdoor activities.

“While participation in hunting has indeed declined, wildlife-watching tourism has greatly increased,” said Samantha Hagio, director of wildlife protection at the Humane Society of the United States.

This shift calls for a fresh look at how wilderness areas are funded, Hagio argued.

While hunters pay heavily to help fund conservation projects across the country, wildlife officials note, other outdoor enthusiasts get to use many wilderness areas for free or only a fraction of the hunters’ cost. Birders at Los Banos Wildlife Area, for example, pay $5 a day for a pass to access the trails.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.outdoorlife.com/why-we-are-losing-hunters-and-how-to-fix-it/

Why We Suck at Recruiting New Hunters, Why It Matters, and How You Can Fix It

Hunter numbers have been dwindling for decades; now the bottom is about to fall out of license-funded conservation. Here’s what went wrong and what you—yes, you—can do about it

Published Oct 15, 2019 8:15 PM

So you’d be hard-pressed to find any sportsman or -woman who wants more competition in the woods. Yet, more hunters is precisely what we need right now.

Here’s why: Baby boomers make up our nation’s largest cohort of hunters, and they’ve already begun to age out of the sport. Within 15 years, most will stop buying licenses entirely. And when they do, our ranks could plunge by 30 percent—along with critical funding for wildlife management, advocacy for hunting, and a tradition that’s probably pretty important to you. In other words, the clock is ticking. And unless we act now, we might not recover from the fallout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More at link above.

[Walleye]

37. That last sentence is a good point I hadn't thought of that

[smirkymonkey]

51. I am 58 and have lived in Manhattan( UES, UWS, West Village) Boston, MA and

San Francisco, CA. I have never felt the need for a gun anywhere I have lived, and I have lived right in the city in all of those places, not suburbs. I really don't understand what so many people are so afraid of.

[vanlassie]

6. These must be people wanting to be prepared for what they think is imminent

Insurrection. Thanks, TFG.

[Hortensis]

7. Sounds like it, Vanlassie. The fines are severe, though, and

I liked reading this:

"Pekoske said they rarely see repeat offenders."

I'm guessing we can expect the real paramilitary types to mostly ship or drive their weapons to destination points.

From CJC General Milley's notes to self about the militant types at the Capitol on January 6, and Steve Bannon (via Woodward/Costa's Peril).

'Millie concluded that some were Brown Shirts, a U.S. version of the Nazi Party's paramilitary wing, and that it was a planned revolution.

"Steve Bannon's vision coming to life. Bring it all down, blow it up, burn it, and emerge with power."'

[fescuerescue]

8. And all those guns were in the airport right before TSA found them.

I wonder how many shootings occurred in the airport before TSA found them?

[Caliman73]

12. Not many.

A search yielded 1 result. A shooting in Florida in 2017 and another in Vancouver Canada in May of this year.

Every airline has rules for traveling safely with a firearm and it usually involves calling the airline ahead of time, having the firearm stored in a an approved, locked container, separate from any ammunition. The firearm is checked and stored with the other luggage, under the plane. People were not even allowed to travel with firearms in carry on luggage before 9/11, when airport security got a lot tighter.

Before it was typically Rap artists who would get caught with guns at the airport. People like Lil Wayne would make news for taking a gun in carry on luggage.

People who do this are either really ignorant, as the restrictions have been in place for decades, or they are trying to prove a point or challenge the regulations. A fight they are not going to win.

[DENVERPOPS]

40. Don't forget the ultimate revenge of a

pissed off girlfriend or wife that plants the husbands hand gun in his luggage after he has finished packing and is leaving for the airport..........

[Caliman73]

54. While I agree that it is possible...

I would not count that among the likely scenario. I know that some people conceal carry in a jacket and maybe forget that they are carrying when going into sensitive areas (another concern), I have doubts that the "ultimate revenge" idea is common.

[DENVERPOPS]

56. I agree that most

are because they forgot they had it in their bag they also use for carry on when traveling.

We all should be MOST disturbed by the number of handguns that make it through the TSA employees operating/viewing the X-rayed carryon luggage.

[yellowcanine]

9. Gun should automatically be confiscated and destroyed and person put on no fly list.

Guarantee this would stop it cold.

[MagickMuffin]

10. Good TSA keep up the GOOD work, this will keep these guns off the street

Hopefully no one will lose their life. We need them to continue to protect us.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

14. Which means there are likely many, many more making it through the checkpoint

Considering TSA has a rather terrible history in actually catching things.

[link:https://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-fails-tests-latest-undercover-operation-us-airports/story?id=51022188|]

[DENVERPOPS]

41. I distinctly remember

an article by William Rivers Pitt AFTER 9/11, where he was talking about a study that Al Gore ran on the testing/screening that was done at airports across the nation prior to 9/11. Al Gore was reporting that people were smuggling an incredible number of weapons in their carry on luggage, by getting though the lax security/screenings. Hand guns, machetes, even grenades. Al Gore even identified the worst screenings, by which airports. He pointed out that the 9/11 Hijackers had done their research and picked the airports that had the worst screening.
I wish I could find that paper that WRP wrote, it was scathing.
Anyone know how to search for that WRP paper,? I have tried doing searches to no avail.
It was an incredible article by him

[madinmaryland]

48. He writes for Truthout. They may have archives of articles he has written.

[DENVERPOPS]

49. Thx mad

I tried to search Truthout, but to no avail. Of course my computer skills are limited. It was an incredible piece by him.
I even tried communicating with Truthout to request it, but couldn't get thru to them.....

Anyway, Thx........

[calimary]

15. Neither do I, riversedge. And neither WILL I.

[jalan48]

16. For some power and intimidation. Bully behavior.

[CCExile]

18. I bet most of them are Texans.

[James48]

27. Three of the top ten airports are in Texas.

[gojoe12]

19. makes perfect sense

I remember last year hearing about gun sales last year when TFG was in and I thought it would stop when Biden got in.

According to CNN I was wrong, More people with guns....





The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that among those purchasing guns in 2020, 8.4 million of them were new gun owners. At the beginning of 2021, gun sales continued to spike, with 2.2 million firearms sold in January, according to SAAF.

[DENVERPOPS]

42. Yes

Gun sales started really slowing down after Trump was in office. The Trump jumpers and Repubs figured they didn't have to worry anymore...........

The gun manufacturers were seriously worried. So they started planting all kinds of stories in the media about the Dems beginning a massive movement against the 2nd amendment to try and at least stabilize the falling number of gun sales.

The gun sales really picked up after Biden was elected and the Repubs showed a loss in control of the Senate.
And then after Jan 6th evidently the gun sales really picked up, and interestingly a sizable group of new buyers was found by the Gun manufacturers......

Frightened Democrats..........

[onethatcares]

20. follow up headline should read

record number of firearms melted to scrap after being confiscated at airside check in.

cause you don't get your nail clippers back either.

[iluvtennis]

21. Not only should they be fined, but also put on a no fly list for

say 6 months. Let them take Greyhound or Amtrak for those 6 months.

[smirkymonkey]

52. 6 months? Try permanently and also banned from Greyhound and Amtrak.

There needs to be a no tolerance policy with these assholes.

[iluvtennis]

59. I'd love that!

[packman]

22. Need a no-fly list for ALL airlines - might stop this shit

[Maraya1969]

23. They should automatically be put on the no fly list. That might stop their sorry asses.

[Cryptoad]

25. This

[CCExile]

24. I wonder how many slip through? An anecdote...

Ten or fifteen years ago my suspenders set off the gate alarm. I was told to put my backpack on a small side table, and was then "wanded", de-shoed, looked over, and then frisked. Problem not found, must be the suspenders. "Have a nice trip". No hard feelings on my part, just the post 911 world. Later, at the hotel room, I was looking for my phone charger and rummaging around in my day pack (which had been scanned on the conveyor belt earlier) I found that I was carrying my 4" buck knife in a small inside pocket, probably left from a past fishing trip. They searched ME thoroughly, while the day pack was ignored, although the pack WAS x-rayed. That's why I wonder how many guns ACTUALLY took flight.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

57. Probably a lot

In 2015, TSA failed to catch 95% of contraband items during tests ran by DHS. They improved that number in 2017, to only missing around 80% of the items. Haven't seen a more recent article on whether that's improved since then.

[FakeNoose]

26. This should be the new plan to confiscate guns in the USA

Snatch everything at the airport, melt them all down. Revoke all their licenses too, so they can't buy another one. Unfortunately it won't stop people from driving around with guns in their cars, but it's a start.

[James48]

28. Penalty:

1st offense for bringing a gun inside an airport should be:
1. Mandatory forfeiture of weapon
2. Mandatory minimum 2 year sentence for weapons possession inside an airport.
3. Listing on the NO FLY list for ten years.
4. Lifetime ban of weapons ownership
5. Picture publication on the airport’s website of your mugshot, and details of your encounter.
6. Disqualification of any future federal monetary aid, SSI, etc.
7. Voting rights suspended for ten years.

[AllaN01Bear]

29. i remember seeing a comercial pilot doing a manditory preflight of his

commercial aircraft. he found a bullet in the pilots seat and a skin puncture right above it in the fuselage above where his head would be. of course the aircraft was pernamantly grounded as would suffer cabin pressure at altitude . id hate to see somone discharge a weapon in a aircraft cabin at 30,000 feet. eep.

[DENVERPOPS]

43. Aren't pilots

allowed to carry concealed weapons? If so, I could take a wild guess at just who misfired a weapon in the cockpit and never reported it to the authorities......LOL

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

58. Yea, some are if they are certified for it

A friend of mine is and he's a pilot for Delta.

[UGADawg]

30. Penalty should start with 24 hours in jail**

**

[tenderfoot]

32. These people are the same ones that state that you're living in fear by wearing a mask

eom

[ffr]

33. Plumbism. It's an addiction.

Lead will make the brain do crazy things.

Study: Being Exposed to Lead as a Child May Alter Personality
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016302169

[DENVERPOPS]

45. Couldn't agree more.

The water suppliers in major cities across the nation have known the effects of lead (Pb) potable water lines in use in cities across the nation. It never was revealed to the public for the past 70+ years that not only were the Pb water lines run from the street to the house, but also the Pb water lines were run through the entire houses prior to 1930's to 1940's???
The first time it was really talked about was the Detroit problem with Pb pipes. Prior to that, community water suppliers just played kick the can down the road after reading all the documented studies for decades about Pb in the water affecting the infants/toddlers brains the most......

[liberalmuse]

35. These fucking people

They say they don't live in fear but can't go out in public without a firearm strapped to their big guts and call out their prayer warriors and suck on horse paste to scare the Covid away. They are less than half of the population but are managing to pollute the collective with their stupidity, entitlement and bad behavior. I'm so tired of these assholes. They are such an embarrassment. Trump has coaxed them out of their hidey holes and I'm not sure how we'll ever get rid of this toxic scourge of bottom-of-the barrel dregs infesting humanity.

[Mister Ed]

38. I'd like to take a crack at explaining the obsession with guns:

They make the weak feel powerful, and make the fearful feel safe.

[fescuerescue]

44. I would say that is true with every weapon

Since the first club was picked up

Not many are designed to make you feel less safe or powerful.

[smirkymonkey]

53. Good explaination. Unfortunately we have way too many weak and fearful people in this

country with easy access to firearms. Bad combination.

[sanatanadharma]

39. If TA hasn't stopped all guns, this means some gun owners are law breakers; not to be trusted

If some lawful gun owners are in fact law breakers, it follows that I have no way of knowing, when seeing a gun; is that a law-abiding law-breaker with a gun or is that a potential law-breaker obeying the law with a gun.

It seems to me that the presence of a gun doesn't create any added value to (and in) lawful society.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

55. I have 2 questions

1- Knowing lots of people would want to keep those who misuse guns from using them ever, what should I conclude about someone who writes, "...is that a law-abiding law-breaker..."?

2- Where is this lawful society you're writing about? I'm not aware of a society with laws that is devoid of those who break the laws.

[DFW]

47. I'd have a six step response

1. Confiscate the weapon, noting all pertinent data for evidence
2. Fine the offender for the max
3. Put the offender on a no-fly list starting that second
4. Try, and, upon conviction, jail the offender for a maximum sentence
5. Destroy the confiscated weapon with no recompense
6. Make the offender's name public on a list accessible for any future employer, so any potential employer knows what they are capable of.

** If the owner is truly legit, and was really so absent-minded as to bring a gun to an airport before a flight, allow them to turn in their weapon to a TSA officer before trying to go through security with it, and pick it up after their trip, or else arrange for it to be shipped to them and them only, with picture ID and matching signature necessary for release. If they try to go through security with the gun, and THEN say, "oh, I forgot," they are too irresponsible to own a gun in the first place. Confiscate it and destroy it.

[D_Master81]

50. WTF is wrong with people

I have no problem with someone wanting to responsibly own a gun. I have a gun in our home myself. But WTF makes you think in a post 9/11 world that you can bring a gun on a plane? It’s ridiculous how bastardized the 1st and 2nd amendments have gotten where someone thinks they can say anything without consequences or carry a gun wherever they damn well please.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

60. Speaking of Guns, I still like the idea of somehow raising the price

of bullets (a tax like they put on cigarettes?) to about 100 bucks a piece. Rs can't say it violates their precious 2A.