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Friday, February 14, 2025

TSA Detected 52 Firearms at Minneapolis-St. Paul Checkpoints in 2024

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped 52 firearms at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) security checkpoints in 2024, a decrease from the 53 detected in 2023.

Nationwide, TSA officers stopped a total of 6,678 firearms, 18 firearms per day on average, at TSA checkpoints last year. Approximately 94% of these firearms were loaded. This total is down slightly from the agency’s record 6,737 firearms stopped in 2023.

Throughout 2024, TSA managed its “Prepare, Pack, Declare” public awareness campaign to explain the steps for safely traveling with a firearm. Firearms at TSA checkpoints represent an unnecessary risk and an expensive mistake for passengers who do not follow proper packing guidance for firearms in checked baggage.

“Bringing a firearm to the checkpoint is a careless, dangerous mistake that can be easily avoided,” Minnesota TSA Federal Security Director Marty Robinson said. “When individuals bring firearms to our checkpoints, they are introducing a risk to everyone in the area.  These incidents also slow down the checkpoint screening process for other travelers because when a firearm is detected, all activity in the lane comes to a complete halt until police arrive. Unloaded firearms can be packed with checked baggage and declared to the airline.”

In 2024, TSA screened more than 904 million individuals. The agency intercepted 7.4 firearms per million passengers, a drop from 7.8 per million passengers in 2022. Stated another way, TSA detected one firearm for every 135,383 travelers screened.

MSP’s decrease is notable because about 14.5 million people were screened at TSA checkpoints last year, an 8.3 percent increase over 2023.

MSP passengers brought guns to the airport at rates below the national average. TSA officers at MSP discovered firearms in carry-on luggage at a rate of 3.6 firearms per million passengers screened. This calculates to a rate of one firearm discovery for every 279,790 travelers screened.

Firearms caught by TSA at MSP airport checkpoints, 2020 to 2024

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) 52 53 58 56 34
Duluth International Airport (DLH) 2 2 1 2 0
Rochester International Airport (RST) 1 0 0 0 0

The original announcement can be found here.

Homeland Security Today
Homeland Security Todayhttp://www.hstoday.us
The Government Technology & Services Coalition's Homeland Security Today (HSToday) is the premier news and information resource for the homeland security community, dedicated to elevating the discussions and insights that can support a safe and secure nation. A non-profit magazine and media platform, HSToday provides readers with the whole story, placing facts and comments in context to inform debate and drive realistic solutions to some of the nation’s most vexing security challenges.

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