TSA finding more guns, other potential weapons at RDU

Hand grenades, stun guns, hammers, a kitchen knife and a baseball bat are just a few of the items Transportation Security Administration officers stopped at the security checkpoint in Raleigh-Durham International Airport in the past 30 days.

Those items were on display at a news conference Tuesday, where TSA Federal Security Director for RDU Beth Walker urged passengers to “take a second look at the content” of their bags – because the number of prohibited items stopped this year at RDU has increased compared to last year.

The number of handguns stopped at TSA checkpoints at RDU has increased significantly, Walker noted, with 37 seized to date in 2016, compared to 22 during the same period from January to September in 2015.

“This is occurring nationally, so Raleigh is really no different from many other airports,” said Walker, who oversees security at airports in Eastern North Carolina. “Other airports are also trying to get this message out. It’s for the safety of everyone, not only for our TSA officers at the checkpoints, but for the traveling public as well.”

Nationally, more than 2,100 guns have been stopped so far this year, TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said – 250 more than at the same time last year.

Altogether last year at RDU, more than 1,200 pounds of prohibited items, like pocketknives and brass knuckles, and more than 9,000 pounds of hazardous materials, such as household chemicals, were intercepted, Koshetz said.

Walker noted that “about 97 percent“ of passengers stopped with prohibited items say they forgot they had the items in their bags. She said between 70 and 80 percent of the guns stopped at RDU have been loaded – which she said could lead to “a tragic event” if the firearm were to accidentally discharge.

She said that wait times increase when prohibited items are stopped at checkpoints. Some of the items, such as hand grenades, are considered “military novelty items” that tend to cause “quite a stir” when they are discovered, she said.

If a gun is stopped, RDU police are called. The person carrying the gun will be arrested or cited, and can also receive a civil penalty of up to $11,000, Walker said.

“Let’s just give you a scenario here,” Walker said. “Our officers are well-trained, and they will discover the firearm. We now have to stop the screening process for that lane, call law enforcement, who responds to the checkpoint and processes the firearm. So now you’re facing an interaction with law enforcement, as well as the passengers that are behind you are now being held up.”

Standing with two TSA officers behind her, Walker said the officers at RDU are highly trained and will catch any prohibited materials. About 22 percent of TSA officers at RDU are military veterans, she said, and between 3 and 5 percent are former law enforcement officers.

“When a person is found with a firearm, our officers step in and take possession of the weapon,” Sawyer said. “Then once the case goes through the court, there is a disposal process.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 1:44 PM with the headline "TSA finding more guns, other potential weapons at RDU."