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More guns being detected at Tampa Bay area airports — and everywhere else

 
This is one of four guns security personnel discovered at Tampa International Airport checkpoints on April 25, 2017. Photo courtesy Transportation Security Administration
This is one of four guns security personnel discovered at Tampa International Airport checkpoints on April 25, 2017. Photo courtesy Transportation Security Administration
Published Nov. 22, 2017

TAMPA — Here's some travel math for this traditionally heavy day for long trips: More people carrying guns plus more people flying equals more guns going to the airport.

The numbers bear this out. The federal Transportation Security Administration has found more guns so far this year than during all of last year at airports nationwide, at airports in Florida and at airports on both sides of Tampa Bay.

So far this year, Tampa International Airport leads the state in guns found at the airport, with 86 through Monday, compared to 79 for all of 2016 and 49 for 2015. (Last year's leader, Orlando International Airport, which sees about twice as many passengers a year as TIA, has had 81 guns found through the same point this year versus 86 for all of 2016.)

"There's no real scientific answer on why it's going up, except that more people are traveling and more people care carrying guns, so volume is up," TSA spokesman Mark Howell said Wednesday.

On a single day, April 25, security screeners found passengers with four loaded handguns — a Glock .45-caliber pistol, a Kel-Tec .380, a Glock .380 and a Ruger .380 — in separate incidents at TIA.

A total of seven guns have been detected so far this year at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, compared to six last year and one the year before.

Statewide, the number of guns found by airport security has risen from 411 last year to 440 this year. Nationally, the total rose from 3,391 last year to 3,733 through Nov. 13 of this year.

Firearms are allowed only if unloaded, secured in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage and declared to the airline at the ticket counter. They are banned in carry-on bags. For more detail on how to pack firearms legally, check tsa.gov/traveler-information/firearms-and-ammunition.

Airport administrators say travelers should arrive at least two hours early for their flights to get through security as well find their way around terminal renovations underway at both the Tampa and St. Pete-Clearwater airports.

Authorities say most people found with guns at an airport have licenses for the weapons but forgot they had them in their bag. Still, walking up to airport security with a gun can set in motion a range of consequences:

• A criminal charge, a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. If you don't have a permit to carry the gun, expect to be arrested.

• Being reported to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which issues concealed carry permits and can take action against someone who brings a gun to an airport.

• Paying a civil penalty of up to $9,800.

"It can be an expensive mistake even outside of whatever law enforcement decides to do," Howell said.

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times