Every week, as passengers step through the security line at the airport, the Transportation Security Administration finds dozens of guns, knives, and other exotic weapons.
Travelers can bring guns, but they have to be locked, checked, proclaimed, and unloaded. Last year, the TSA found:
- More than 2,212 guns in unchecked bags.
- 43 in Charlotte.
- Dallas led the nation with 120.
- About 80 percent of discovered guns were loaded.
Kevin Frederick, the TSA security director at Charlotte, says the most common response from the owner of an unchecked gun or knife is “I forgot it was in my bag.”