The first of two firearms - a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson - discovered by TSA at Boise Airport Monday, Oct. 2, 2023.
BOISE, Idaho - A male traveler was stopped by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Boise Airport (BOI) on Monday, October 2, 2023, at 5 a.m. when TSA officers detected a loaded handgun among the man’s belongings. The 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol was loaded with nine bullets.
TSA officers discovered a second firearm around 8:40 a.m. Monday when a male traveler brought an unloaded Raven Arms MP25 Pistol in his carry-on bag along with a box of ammunition in his carry-on luggage. Both firearms were discovered during routine X-ray screening at the security checkpoint.
The travelers now face a stiff federal financial civil penalty. Federal penalties for bringing weapons to the checkpoint can run as high as $14,950, depending on the circumstances. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online.
“Firearm owners should take note: if you are planning to travel with your firearm, take a few minutes to ensure that you are doing so properly,” said TSA’s Federal Security Director for Idaho Andy Coose. “After TSA officers discovered this traveler’s firearm in his carry-on bag, one traveler remarked that because he left two boxes of ammunition at home, he thought he could bring his loaded firearm to the security checkpoint. This traveler was obviously mistaken.”
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage only if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided, locked case. The locked case should be placed in a checked bag and declared to the airline at the ticket counter. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.
Firearms are not permitted through a security checkpoint because passengers should not have access to a firearm during a flight. This even applies to travelers with concealed carry permits or are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck® program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.
Last year, 6,542 firearms were caught at 262 out of 430 airport security checkpoints nationwide. Eighty-eight percent were loaded. So far this year, TSA has stopped more than 5,000 guns at security checkpoints across the country. Today’s firearms are the 30th and 31st discovered by TSA at BOI this year. All but two of these firearms have been loaded.
Below is a summary of TSA firearms catches at airport checkpoints at BOI through October 2 each year, from 2018 to 2023:
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
21 |
19 |
22 |
26 |
34 |
31 |
Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality and passengers should do their homework to make sure that they are not violating any local firearm laws. Travelers should also contact their airline as they may have additional requirements for traveling with firearms and ammunition.
Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? Download the free myTSA app, which has a handy “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly. Or ask on Twitter or Facebook Messenger at @AskTSA. Travelers may send a question by texting “Travel” to AskTSA (275-872).