Guns found at Palm Beach County, Miami airports rises in first half of 2024: TSA reports

WASHINGTON (CBS12) — The number of guns found at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints in Florida airports in the first half of 2024 dipped slightly from last year – but not in Palm Beach County.

New numbers from the federal agency show 22 guns were found in travelers’ carry-on luggage in the first six months of this year. That’s a near 38% increase over the same period in 2023, which far outpaces the nine percent increase in people going through the checkpoints.

An hour south in Miami, the jump was even more dramatic. On average, TSA officers were finding a gun once every three days, reporting a total of 62 over those six months. That’s more than double the 30 reported a year earlier, despite an increase in travelers of only about nine percent.

Conversely, the biggest drop in guns found happened halfway between those two airports, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The state’s third largest airport saw 50 guns taken from passengers in 2024, which is 20 fewer than last year.

Tampa and Jacksonville’s airports also reported notable drops. According to TSA, they went from 67 and 36 guns found last year to 51 and 27, respectively.

Statewide, the number of guns discovered did decrease from 396 to 382, even as overall throughput of passengers rose by four million (60.9 million to 56.5 million). The TSA’s statement pointed out that fewer guns are found at Florida airports per capita (1 gun per every 135,560 passengers screened) than the nationwide average of one gun per every 159,318 passengers screened.

It is legal to travel with a gun, the TSA notes, but special rules must be followed. To take a firearm onto a commercial aircraft, it must be unloaded, packed in a locked, hard-sided case, and placed with checked baggage. While checking in, a passenger also needs to declare at the airline ticket counter that they have the weapon, ammunition, or gun parts.

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Replica guns are also barred from carry-on baggage and must be checked as well.