Number of firearms intercepted at MSP Airport checkpoints on record pace

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have confiscated 31 firearms so far this year at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport checkpoints and are on pace to break a record set just last year.

In all of 2022, TSA officers at MSP discovered 58 firearms in carry-on luggage, which equated to one firearm discovery for every 197,238 travelers screened. That was up from 56 found the year before and 37 in 2018, according to TSA data.

The rise in firearms found at security checkpoints at MSP mirrors a nationwide trend in which TSA officers have intercepted more than 3,250 firearms in the first six months of this year, or an average of 18 a day. That was 200 more than during the same period last year, the TSA said, adding that the agency expects to surpass last year's national record of 6,542 firearm interceptions.

"Although it's extremely troubling when passengers make this careless, expensive mistake, the general public should feel safer knowing that the TSA officers at MSP continue to perform their jobs exceptionally well and are stopping these firearms from going past the checkpoint," Minnesota TSA Federal Security Director Marty Robinson said during a media briefing Thursday. "When dangerous items such as loaded guns are brought to a security checkpoint, it represents a serious security and safety concern."

One TSA officer at MSP found two loaded handguns on the same day in separate incidents. The officer manning an X-ray machine found the first gun about 4:45 a.m. Feb. 7 and the second about six hours later, the TSA said.

"If you're caught with a gun at the checkpoint, you will be arrested and interviewed," said MSP Airport Police Chief Matt Christenson. "You will also face at least a misdemeanor criminal charge — or jail time, in some cases."

Passengers caught with firearms also face a civil penalty from TSA of up to $14,950, lose TSA PreCheck eligibility for five years, and may require enhanced screening, the TSA said.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage provided they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter.