We may not all agree with some of the ways the TSA does its business, but it seems like they’re doing something right.
A shocking number of guns, weapons and explosive devices were pulled from checked luggage at airports by the Transportation Security Administration last year.
Some 1,813 firearms were seized at U.S. airports by TSA agents in 2013 – an increase of more than 16 per cent on 2012, according to the authority’s yearly report.
The weapons, discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints, amounted to an average of five per day being found – and eight out of ten guns discovered were loaded.
Firearms were found by TSA agents at a total of 205 airports with Atlanta top of the list for the most firearms intercepted (111) in 2013.
After Atlanta, the top airports for weapon interceptions were Dallas/Fort Worth International in Texas (96 guns found); George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (68 guns); Phoenix Airport (66 guns) and Denver International (51 guns).
Among the terrifying cache was a loaded .380 pistol with eight rounds, discovered on the lower left leg of a passenger at Bradley Hartford Airport in Connecticut.
In Pittsburgh, a loaded .45 with six rounds was found strapped to the ankle of a traveler.
But it’s not just guns that TSA agents come across – there have been a number of alarming weapons – including one or two that appear straight out of the history books.
At Chicago Midway, a mace was found in a passenger’s bag. The weapon is a spiked metal ball on a chain attached to a wooden stick used to bludgeon victims.
In Indiana, authorities were faced with an inert suicide vest which was a training aid used by an explosives instructor.
While searching clay pots in a checked baggage location at Fort Lauderdale, officers discovered human skull fragments. Although not a threat to security, the area had to be cordoned off as a crime scene.
Ten canisters containing 24-pounds of black powder were discovered in checked baggage at Chicago Midway.
A live blasting cap was found with an M60 fuse lighter in a passenger’s checked bag at the Manhattan Regional Airport in Kansas.
After an alarm went off at Anchorage airport in Alaska, officers found a 3.2oz flask of black powder, 22 feet of fuse, a large empty CO2 cartridge, and miscellaneous ammunition in a passenger’s bag.
