TSA found fewer guns at NC airports last year, led by a big decline at RDU
Fewer passengers got caught carrying guns at security checkpoints at North Carolina airports last year, led by a significant drop at Raleigh-Durham International.
The Transportation Security Administration says it found 250 guns on passengers or in their carry-on bags at North Carolina’s 10 commercial airports in 2022. That’s down slightly from 254 the year before, even though the number of people screened at the state’s airports rose more than 27% over the previous year, to nearly 19.8 million people.
TSA agents found one firearm for every 79,167 passengers they screened in North Carolina. That compares to a national rate of one for every 116,394 people screened, according to the TSA. Nationwide, the agency found 6,542 firearms at airport checkpoints, a 9.5% increase.
North Carolina’s two largest airports — Charlotte Douglas International and RDU — accounted for 191 of the 250 guns found in the state last year — 117 at CLT and 74 at RDU. Asheville Regional Airport had the third highest number, at 25, up from 15 the year before.
The number at RDU declined from 100 the year before, despite an increase in passengers screened at the airport. But the TSA still found four more guns at RDU’s checkpoints last year than it did in 2019, before the pandemic, when about a million more passengers passed through the checkpoints.
It is possible to fly with a firearm, but it must be unloaded and in a locked, hard-sided container as checked baggage. Passengers must let the airline know about the firearm or ammunition when checking the bag at the ticket counter.
For more information, go to www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition. If you’re unsure about what other items might or might not be allowed through an airport security checkpoint, go to TSA.gov and click on “What Can I Bring?” in the top right corner.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 12:48 PM.
