ATLANTA (AP) – A record-breaking number of guns was confiscated at Atlanta’s airport last month, federal authorities said.
Thirty guns were found at security checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during May, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Mark Howell said. That’s more than previously discovered at a single airport nationwide in one month.
“People are so used to having guns with them all the time,” Howell said. Normally, passengers are surprised to discover they had forgotten their gun in their bag. There is “hardly ever an intent to do it on purpose,” Howell said.
However, that does not excuse passengers from the hefty fines attached to bringing a gun to a TSA security checkpoint. Fines can reach up to $13,000, Howell said. Typically, first-time offenders are subject to a $3,900 fine.
By the end of May, TSA workers had recovered 108 guns at Atlanta’s airport this year, an increase from the 91 guns discovered by this time last year. Across the country, more than 1,700 guns have been discovered so far this year at airports.