Days after a door panel blew off the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines aircraft, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, questions about air travel safety took off.
Turns out, though, public skepticism should be directed at passengers, too many of whom are packing heat — literally.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced it had confiscated 6,737 firearms at airport security checkpoints. Those seizures prevented firearms from getting into secure areas of the airport and onboard aircraft.
Incredibly, 93% of these firearms were loaded. What are people thinking?
Passengers are only allowed to travel with an unloaded firearm, and only if they pack it properly in a locked, hard-sided case in their checked baggage and first declare it to the airline at the check-in counter.
A bright spot in the most recent TSA seizure numbers is that 2nd Amendment-loving Tennessee had a reduction in the number of guns confiscated at airports.
Gun seizures at the Chattanooga Airport decreased 40% (30 seizures to 18) from 2022 to 2023, the most significant drop among Tennessee’s six largest airports, according to a Times Free Press report.
Federal officers at Tennessee airports discovered 313 firearms in travelers’ carry-on luggage in 2023, a decrease of more than 14% from the 2022 statewide total of 366.
This decrease is a positive sign, but let’s be crystal clear here: Why is anyone taking their guns to the airport?
Even with Nashville’s gun seizure decrease from 213 in 2022 to 188 last year, Music City still ranked fifth overall … in the country!
Travelers face civil penalties up to nearly $15,000 per violation for bringing firearms to the security checkpoint, and possibly criminal charges, according to officials.
Air travel relies on a perfectly executed system to ensure safety while aircraft, crew and passengers are on the ground and in the air. For Chattanooga, as its airport picks up traffic with direct flights to Chicago and now Las Vegas, it makes no sense why anyone would create unnecessary safety concerns by bringing a firearm — loaded or not — with them.
Gun safety is common sense. The same common sense that tells you to lock your guns in a safe while they’re in a car is the same common sense that should tell you to leave your gun at home before heading to the Caribbean.
In the words of the man in black, Johnny Cash, “… leave your guns at home … .”