Guns Found At Chicago Airport Checkpoints Spiked In 2021

ILLINOIS — Nearly 6,000 firearms were found in carry-on luggage at U.S. airport checkpoints in 2021, according to new information released by the Transportation Security Administration. Of those guns, more than 130 were seized at O'Hare and Midway airports in Illinois.

Nationwide, 5,972 guns were intercepted at 268 airports last year, according to TSA data. That’s a 36 percent increase over 2019, when travel volume was similar to 2021, and a staggering 45 percent increase over 2020.

Among the firearms confiscated by officials, 86 percent were loaded, CBS News reported.

"That presents a significant health, safety and security concern for us," TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CBS News.

TSA officers stopped 133 guns at O'Hare and Midway combined in 2021, a big increase from 2020, when 55 guns were found at the Chicago airports. In 2019, TSA officers at O'Hare and Midway found 83 guns. A total of 88 guns were found at Chicago airports in 2018, and 63 were found in 2017.

"While our passenger volumes have not yet fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing even higher numbers of firearms, most of them loaded," Illinois TSA Federal Security Director Dereck Starks said in a statement. "Passengers are strictly prohibited from bringing firearms onboard planes, and our TSA officers are laser-focused on security and preventing weapons from getting through our checkpoints."

Here’s how many firearms were found at airports in Chicago in 2021:

• O'Hare International Airport: 91 guns
• Midway International Airport: 42 guns

In 2021, the TSA screened approximately 585 million passengers and crew at airports across the country. That figure represents an 81 percent increase over the approximately 324 million screened in 2020.

This means a firearm was detected for every 97,999 passengers screened.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta was at the top of this year’s list with 507 guns detected, up from 323 in 2019.

These airports had the highest numbers of guns found in 2021:

1) Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: 507 guns
2) Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport: 317 guns
3) Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport: 245 guns
4) Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport: 196 guns
5) Nashville International Airport: 163 guns
6) Denver International Airport: 141 guns
7) Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: 128 guns
8) Orlando International Airport: 124 guns
9) Louis Armstrong New Orleans International: 119 guns
10) Salt Lake City International Airport: 115 guns

Pekoske told CBS News he’s worried about the alarming record.

"What's causing it? I don't know exactly, but generally, I think our weapons carriage detections reflect just more people carrying weapons in the country," he told CBS News.