TSA detected 1,503 firearms in the first quarter of 2024. How many were at your airport?

During the first quarter of 2024, 1,503 firearms, an average of16.5 per day, were detected at TSA checkpoints.

Over 93% of them were loaded.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, however, Atlantic City and Trenton -Mercer airport reported zero detections, while Philadelphia International only reported nine.

Of the more than 206 million passengers screened nationwide during quarter one of this year, TSA reports that the rate of firearm discovery was 7.3 firearms per one million persons. This is a slight decreased from 2023's quarter one results, which indicated 7.9 firearms per every one million persons. Over 191 million people were screened during quarter one of last year.

Despite this slight decrease, TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the numbers are still too high.

"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,” Pekoske said in a press release.

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How many guns are found by TSA?

Data points provided by TSA show that more guns have been detected in various regions over the past few years.

Across 265 airport checkpoints nationwide, TSA officers detected 6,737 firearms in 2023. This was a 195 item increase from the previous year.

Since 2008, the amount of firearms detected at airports nationally has steadily increased, from 926 guns to 6,737.

At the Philadelphia International Airport, the number of gun detections was trending downward from 35 in 2017 to 20 in 2019, before spiking again. Last year TSA found 45 firearms at the airport's checkpoints.

A representative from TSA said very few firearms are detected at the Atlantic City International and Trenton-Mercer airports —"either none or just one or two."

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Kaitlyn McCormick writes about trending issues and community news across South Jersey for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times. If you have a story she should tell, email her at kmccormick@gannett.com. And subscribe to stay up to date on the news you need.