Transportation Security Administration agents at Midway Airport have discovered four firearms in a three-week period this month — what TSA officials describe as an unusually high amount.
The most recent firearm was discovered Wednesday at the airport’s TSA checkpoint, where agents found a loaded 9 mm Springfield firearm inside a 41-year-old Phoenix man’s luggage as it was screened, officials said. TSA officials alerted Chicago police and the man was arrested, the federal agency said in a news release.
Before Wednesday’s arrest, TSA agents found firearms in carry-on luggage and bags on three other occasions this month — March 8, 12 and 20. Three of the four firearms were loaded when detected by TSA officers. So far this year, six firearms were discovered by TSA agents as travelers were heading through the Southwest Side airport’s security checkpoints.
Officials at the TSA called this three-week spike at Midway unusual, noting that 16 firearms were discovered each year in both 2015 and 2016 at Midway. What prompted this month’s spike isn’t entirely clear.
“Some of the increase may be attributed to the overall increase in passenger volume,” TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said.
Last year, U.S. airlines carried an all-time high number of passengers, about 823 million systemwide, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
At O’Hare International Airport, nine firearms have been detected at security checkpoints so far in 2017, according to the TSA. In 2016, there were 17 firearms in total detected at O’Hare.
Firearms, firearm parts and ammunition are never permitted in carry-on bags, but they can be transported in checked bags if they are properly packed and declared to the airline, according to the TSA.
Nationally, the number of firearms detected by TSA officials at the nation’s airports has increased each year since 2010. Last year, the federal agency detected a record 3,391 firearms in carry-on bags at checkpoints, up from 2,653 in 2015.
In addition to arrests and local penalties, TSA can impose civil penalties ranging from $1,500 to $7,000 for a single violation of a firearm brought to a security checkpoint.
Chicago Tribune’s Mary Wisniewski contributed.
Twitter @MidNoirCowboy
