The first half of 2024 has seen a notable increase in the number of guns found in carry-on luggage in Tennessee airports, surpassing more than 150 firearms, a trend that has raised concerns and prompted reminders about the legal ways to travel with firearms. The Transportation Security Administration reported finding 158 guns across the state's airports, slightly more than the 157 found during the same period in 2023, as detailed in a report by WVLT.
At the forefront of this upsurge is Nashville International Airport, where Transportation Security Administration agents discovered 99 guns in the first six months of this year, meanwhile, Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport accounted for 10 of the firearms detected but both airports have seen an uptick in traveler numbers as well, Nashville's checkpoint processed over a million travelers—a significant jump while McGhee Tyson welcomed more than 800,000 people, nearly 100,000 more than the previous year, as reported by WATE.
Statewide, the Transportation Security Administration screened over eight million departing passengers in Tennessee's airports during the initial half of 2024, marking a 6.9 percent increase from the year before; this rate of firearm detection in Tennessee is notably higher than the national average, with one gun found for every 51,188 passengers compared to the nationwide ratio of one per 135,560 passengers, according to WBIR.
Authorities continue to stress the gravity of attempting to bring a firearm in carry-on luggage; facing potential legal consequences that could include a court date and penalties up to $15,000, and instead recommend that firearms be transported unloaded in checked baggage, with the proper declaration made to airline staff, the different airports working to remind passengers of the regulations aiming to curtail these troubling incidents, as explained in the reports independently provided by all three publications.
