Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

TSA Sure Does Find A Lot Of Guns These Days


By

Jamie Feldmar

Published Jan 10, 2012

Modified Jan 10, 2012


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Flickr user laverrue

 


By

Jamie Feldmar

Published Jan 10, 2012

Modified Jan 10, 2012


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Nevermind those pesky strip searches—people still like to bring guns on planes, goshdarnit. The TSA has found 1,238 firearms, or roughly four a day, at airport checkpoints last year. It's unclear whether that figure includes the many, many stun guns that seem to keep popping up around New York, but either way—that's a lot!

The TSA says the guns are typically found in carry-on bags at security X-rays, or full-body scans that display a passenger's entire body. Most of the people who get busted—like the 73 year old man with a .38-caliber handgun in an ankle holster, or, you know, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, who brought a Colt .45 in his briefcase—say they simply forgot they had a gun on them. Which is really reassuring, you know, for all the people who also tried to bring guns to the 9/11 memorial and on the subway who don't want to feel like total idiots.

Tagged

airport

checkpoint

guns

scary

security

travel

tsa


Jamie Feldmar

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park

People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.

By

Charles Lane

Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET


Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says

It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.

By

Liam Quigley

News

Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says

It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.

By

Liam Quigley


New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ

By

Arya Sundaram

A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.

By

Samantha Max

Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910

By

Michael Sol Warren


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .