INDIANAPOLIS — The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says 2021 was a record breaking year for staff stopping firearms at airport checkpoints across the country.
5,972 firearms were stopped, surpassing the previous record of 4,432 firearms caught at checkpoints in the full calendar year 2019.
At the Indianapolis International Airport (IND), 74 handguns were stopped - more than double 2020's total of 36 and an increase of 12 from 2019, when 62 firearms were stopped.
The TSA says nationwide, 86% of those firearms were loaded.
“While our passenger volumes have not yet fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing even higher numbers of firearms, most of them loaded,” Acting Indiana TSA Federal Security Director Kevin Bidwell said in a news release. “Passengers are strictly prohibited from bringing firearms onboard planes, and our TSA officers are laser-focused on security and preventing weapons from getting through our checkpoints.”
Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter.
A typical first offense for carrying a loaded handgun into a checkpoint is $4,100, butthe TSA may impose civil penalties of up to $13,910 per violation per person.
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) had the most number of firearms stopped last year with 507.
For more TSA guidance on how to travel with firearms and ammunition, click here.
-
Lawmakers push for review of BMV selling driver data
Lawmakers are pushing for an interim study committee to dig deeper into a state practice that allows it to sell your personal information.
Pacers' Bennedict ejected after hitting Cavs' Hunter in the chest
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin was ejected in the first quarter of Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday after hitting De’Andre Hunter in the chest with a closed fist.
Man plows truck into juvenile detention center in Johnson County
39-year-old Jacob Dhondt drove his truck through the front vestibule and entryway of the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center at 11:40 a.m. Sunday.
TRAFFIC ALERT: I-65 ramp closure, lane restrictions begin next week
A major construction project on I-65 in Indianapolis will close the northbound Keystone Avenue exit ramp starting May 17 and reduce lanes through 2026 to improve traffic flow and safety.
