LaGuardia Airport Marks Stark Jump In Detected Handguns Last Year

QUEENS — Airports found more handguns in 2022 compared to the year before, with LaGuardia Airport in Queens marking the highest jump, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA officers found 11 handguns at LaGuardia Airport in 2022, a sharp increase from four in 2021.

Overall, officers stopped 39 handguns at New York City area airport checkpoints in 2022, an increase from the 26 guns caught in 2021, TSA said on Tuesday.

John F. Kennedy International Airport was the only airport in the city that plunged in the number of firearms brought to checkpoints in 2022 from nine stopped in 2021 down to seven guns last year.

Across the country, TSA officers found 6,542 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2022, which is higher than the 5,972 detected in 2021. The number of firearms detected nationwide in 2022 increased by over 2,000 compared to 2019.

Of the guns caught in 2022, about 88 percent were loaded. Firearms were caught at 262 airport checkpoints nationwide.