(The Center Square) – A rifle able to disable tanks and other armored vehicles was not allowed on a flight after Transportation Security Administration agents made the call to hold it off the flight.
The encounter, announced Tuesday, comes as TSA announced a record year of firearms discoveries in 2022.
The agency posted a picture of the firearm in its travel case on Jan. 16 after being discovered at San Antonio International Airport.
Today @TSA officers @SATairport discovered this 84 mm caliber weapon in checked luggage. It was undeclared, as required when traveling with firearms or weapons. Here's info about traveling with firearm. https://t.co/FjDYDrQV0E #Monday #SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/ax5sqxHNYX
— TSA_SouthWest (@Tsa_SouthWest) January 16, 2023
Initially, TSA said the weapon was undeclared but later clarified that it has been declared and the agency wasn’t notified.
The discovery happened on the opening day of the SHOT Show, the nation's largest professional event for the sport shooting, hunting and outdoor industry, in Las Vegas. The annual event hosts hundreds of vendors that attract thousands of spectators. A spokeswoman for TSA couldn’t provide details about the traveler’s destination but the San Antonio Police department told KXAN that was the traveler’s destination.
TSA said Tuesday that 2022 found 6,542 firearms at 262 different airports across the nation.
The most were found in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Agents there discovered 448 firearms in 2022, the most in a year since the agency’s inception. Dallas Fort Worth saw 385 encounters with firearms, which was the second-most in the nation.
TSA screened 761 million passengers and crew, having detected one firearm for every 116,394 travelers screened.
