Facts on firearms at airports fly in face of legislation

When it comes to firearms in West Virginia, the trend is toward more is less regulation.
From “open carry” to the “parking lot gun bill,” our state been on the front lines in the effort to weaken gun laws at the expense of common sense.
Just last week, as we opined on a roundup of gun bills we were surprised that after poring over more than 1,400 bills one day, more gun bills were introduced that evening.
One bill we listed — SB 477 — as another effort to preempt local control by the state, this time of county airport authorities, virtually ricocheted
Turns out while this bill was being introduced Wednesday the federal Transportation Security Administration reported the number of guns found at West Virginia airports nearly doubled last year.
TSA officers say they stopped 18 handguns at West Virginia airport checkpoints in 2019, a significant increase from the 10 caught in 2018. The state’s previous record year was in 2016, when screeners found 14 weapons
No firearms were found by TSA officers at the Morgantown Municipal Airport last year, though one turned up in 2018 and another in 2016.
It should also be noted that this uptick in passengers packing firearms mirrors a national trend. Matter of fact, more firearms were seized at checkpoints nationwide in 2019 than ever before in TSA’s 18-year history.
The vast majority were discovered in passengers’ carry-on bags or on their person. Nationally, 87% of these firearms were loaded, and one in three had a round in the chamber.
Obviously, th go-to explanation nearly all passengers cited was they were not aware the firearms were in their check-in bags. Huh?
As noted, SB 477 would prohibit airport authorities from making or adopting rules that prohibit the carry or possession of firearms in all public, nonsecure areas of airports.
Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packed and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked and packed separately from ammunition.
However, we cannot see any need for anyone, aside from TSA officers and other law enforcement, to be carrying or in possession of a firearm at an airport.
According to the TSA, the number of firearms it has intercepted at airports has increased nearly five-fold since 2008, when only 926 weapons were detected at checkpoints nationwide. Last year more than 4,400 firearms — about 12.1 per day — were intercepted at 278 airports by TSA officers, a 5% increase from 2018.
We find it hard to believe the vast majority of these passengers simply forgot a loaded handgun was in their carry-on bags.
What’s more unbelievable is anyone wants to expand the proliferation of firearms at airports in light of such facts.