Americans are serious about their Second Amendment rights — so serious that many are bearing arms more and more while going through airport security, though it may not be intentional.
According to figures released by the Transportation Security Administration, the agency has reportedly found 894 guns on passengers or in their carry-ons in the first six months of 2013 — a 30 percent increase from the same time period last year, the Associated Press reported.
TSA saw a 17 percent increase in the number of firearms identified from 2011 to 2012, with 1,549 weapons found on passengers or in their carry-on luggage as they attempted to go through airport security.
The increasing frequency of passengers attempting to bring guns on planes may seem confusing to many given the strict rules that were put into place in the aftermath of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks.
David Castelveter, a spokesman for TSA, told the Associated Press they don’t believe the passengers carrying guns are terrorists, but said it is confusing why so many passengers are trying to board flights with guns.
“We don’t analyze the behavioral traits of people who carry weapons. We’re looking for terrorists,” Castelveter said. “But sometimes you have to scratch your head and say, `Why?'”
Jimmy Taylor , a sociology professor at Ohio University-Zanesville, told the AP there’s a possibility that many passengers may just forget they are carrying their gun when going through airport security because they’re so accustomed to carrying it – similar to others carrying their wallets and keys.
The AP also found that areas across the south and west have the highest frequency of gun-toting passengers attempting to go through security, which may be due to the popular gun culture and lax gun laws in those areas.
Airports with the most firearms found by TSA were in Georgia, Texas, Florida, Denver, Washington and Arizona.
To the contrary, at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, only one passenger out of 27 million who went through security was found carrying a gun last year.
Passengers found with firearms face the possibility of arrest depending on the state’s gun-control laws or jurisdiction in which the airport is located. In states where gun-control laws are more relaxed, the Associated Press reported that TSA will oftentimes give passengers an opportunity to leave the firearm in their cars or find a safe place to store it until they return.
But for passengers who get their guns confiscated, they may be able to see it again — on the TSA Instagram account, that is.
