CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – Although a record number of people stopped traveling during the coronavirus pandemic, South Carolina airports recorded an increase in the number of firearms found on security checks, similar to situation in georgia.
“So there were a lot less passengers last year and when you look at firearm numbers, the rate we saw per passenger increased in 2020,” said Transport Security Administration spokesman Mark Howell of the numbers from South Carolina.
Nationally, the agency recovered a firearm for every 99,583 passengers, but in South Carolina, that number jumps to a firearm found for every 63,517 passengers.
TSA officials at Charleston International Airport found 12 unreported firearms in checked baggage last year.
“We equaled the total two years ago in South Carolina,” said Howell. “But it is a worrying trend when you see the number of weapons we see per passenger being tracked increasing.”
Howell said it is a trend found in many states of open and hidden transport.
“Because most of these people who are coming to the checkpoint, are like, ‘Oops, I forgot it was in my bag’, that’s almost always the excuse we get,” said Howell.
TSA leaders are encouraging people to remember that they must travel responsibly with a firearm. They say that this includes putting weapons in rigid boxes, storing ammunition separately and notifying the airline before going to safety.
If this is not done, the TSA says that people could face fines ranging from $ 2,000 to $ 10,000, civil penalties and loss of TSA pre-verification privileges.
Across the river in Georgia
Transportation Security Administration officials at Georgia airports found a total of 231 firearms in hand luggage in 2020.
The report says that each of the firearms was discovered during the routine inspection of hand luggage at security checkpoints.
While all Georgia airports had lower firearm totals, TSA says the firearm rate has increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing passenger travel across the state.
In 2020, TSA screened approximately 324 million travelers at airports across the country. That number represents only 39 percent of approximately 824 million tracked in 2019.
TSA tracked approximately 11.34 million passengers departing Georgia’s airports in 2020, meaning that a firearm was discovered for every 49,093 passengers screened.
Two of them were in Augusta last year.
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