Reagan National Airport sets all-time high for guns detected by TSA
ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — The number of people attempting to bring firearms through security at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) reached an all-time high in 2023, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
The TSA also said Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) Airport surpassed its greatest yearly total. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) was close to its annual high as of Dec. 27, but it wasn’t clear if it would be surpassed by year’s end.
Security officials at DCA stopped people with 29 guns last year. In 2023, that number was up to 39, the most recent coming on Christmas Eve. On that day, a woman from Bethesda, Md. tried to bring a loaded handgun through security.
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“My guess is that there are more people that are registered gun owners [and] a lot more people are flying as well,” said Dan Velez, a spokesman with the TSA.
Velez touted the agency’s technology, which he said can pick up guns “pretty easily.”
The local trend mirrors the national trend. The TSA projects for the third straight year, the number of guns stopped at airport security terminals will increase.
“It has to be in a locked, hard-sided container,” Velez said. “It has to be declared with the airline and you have to put it in your checked bag.”
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