TAMPA, Fla — If it's not a snake in a carry-on, it's something else.
Transportation Security Officers have had their hands full over the last year with the amount of improperly stowed guns that have shown up at U.S. airports — and Tampa is part of the issue.
TSA listed the top 10 airports with guns caught at TSA checkpoints in 2022 and Tampa International Airport slid in at No. 10 with 131 guns confiscated. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ranked No. 1 with 448, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with 385 found. Click here for full list.
Although LaGuardia Airport in New York City didn't make the top 10 list, the airport saw the biggest jump in firearms found at TSA checkpoints between 2021 and 2022. TSA at LaGuardia went from catching four guns in 2021 to 11 detected in 2022.
"Nationwide, TSA officers detected 6,542 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2022," TSA said in a news release. "It was a significant increase from the 5,972 detected in 2021 and a spike from the 4,432 detected in 2019 (pre pandemic)."
Out of the many guns found in 2022, 88 percent of them were loaded, TSA reports. In total, 262 guns were caught at 262 airport checkpoints in the U.S.
Other Florida airports to make the top 10 list include Orlando International Airport with 162 guns found and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with 134 found.
TSA released a list of its top 10 catches of the year at the end of 2022. Among the bizarre findings included drugs inside hair scrunchies at Boise Airport, a gun inside of a PlayStation at Atlanta Airport and a handgun found inside jars of peanut butter at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
Travelers who bring guns to the checkpoint could face criminal charges from law enforcement. And TSA wants to remind flyers that even with a concealed weapon permit, guns are not allowed to be carried onto an airplane.