Over 50 guns found at MSP checkpoints in 2023 but down from past years

More than 50 guns were stopped at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) security checkpoints last year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Thursday.

While the TSA says 53 guns are still too many, the good news is that’s down from the past two years — 58 were detected in 2022, and 56 in 2021.

Nationwide, TSA says 6,737 guns were stopped at airport security checkpoints, and around 93% of those guns were loaded at the time. That breaks the record of 6,542 guns stopped in 2022.

Again, the silver lining is that the nationwide rate of gun detections dropped from 8.6 guns per million passengers in 2022 to 7.8 guns per million passengers in 2023. The MSP rate was 3.9 guns per million passengers.

“Responsible gun owners know where their guns are and they know not to bring them to a checkpoint,” Minnesota TSA Federal Security Director Marty Robinson said. “We urge passengers to start with an empty bag so you know with certainty that there is nothing prohibited inside. Bringing a firearm to the checkpoint is a careless, dangerous mistake that passengers can easily avoid.”

TSA notes that bringing a gun to a security checkpoint is a serious matter and may result in arrest or citations. Additionally, the TSA can fine those passengers up to $15,000, revoke PreCheck eligibility for at least five years and conduct enhanced screening.

People can travel with guns in checked baggage if they’re unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter, TSA says. For more information on how to correctly travel with a gun, click here.