Covid-19: Fewer Flying, But More Caught Carrying Guns At Airports

An Essex County traveler caught trying to bring a loaded gun through a Newark Airport checkpoint late last week wasn't a rarity: Even though far fewer people are flying because of the coronavirus, the TSA says, more passengers are packin'.

TSA agents said they caught a man trying to bring this gun and clip onto a flight at Newark Airport.
Photo Credit: *Transportation Security Administration*

Jerry DeMarco

10/13/2020 10:30 p.m.

Airline traveler volume since the pandemic hit has been 60% to 80% lower than last year.

Yet, with 11 weeks left in 2020, the TSA reports as many guns seized this year as in all of 2019, "when passenger volume was significantly more robust," said Thomas Carter, the TSA’s security director for New Jersey.

Some examples:

A Pennsylvania man was caught with an unloaded 9mm handgun at Pittsburgh International Airport less than an hour after a local man tried to get past security with his own 9mm loaded with 17 bullets and an additional magazine loaded with 17 more;
TSA officers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport beat that number when they picked off three carry-on guns in one day last Thursday. That brought their total for the year to 92. All of the rods were loaded, authorities said;
Airports in Florida, which service many Garden Staters, have seen a huge jump: 39 heaters have been seized at Miami International Airport (MIA) so far in 2020, for example, seven more than for all of last year, officials said;
TSA officers at Philadelphia International Airport recently tied their mark of 20 from last year when they found a traveler carrying a 9mm equalizer loaded with six bullets, including one in the chamber.

Most guns are found in carry-on bags and luggage, officials said. Most people caught carrying them blame carelessness.

"Claiming that you forgot that you had a loaded gun on you just doesn’t fly," said Gerardo Spero, the airport's TSA security director. "If you own a gun, you need to know where it is at all times.”

Last Friday, TSA officers nabbed an Essex County man at a checkpoint with a 9mm handgun loaded with 15 bullets.

It was the 10th grip seized at Newark this year, one short of last year's 11.

"It is incredibly disappointing to continue to see so many people bringing their guns to the airport,” Carter said.

With so far fewer people flying and more than 2 months left in 2020, the rate of seizures already is "a sad statement," he said.

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