{"id":35888,"date":"2023-09-19T00:01:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=35888"},"modified":"2023-09-19T00:01:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T04:01:12","slug":"tsa-76-spike-in-guns-caught-at-tampa-airport-since-permitless-carry-law-took-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2023\/09\/19\/tsa-76-spike-in-guns-caught-at-tampa-airport-since-permitless-carry-law-took-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"TSA: 76% spike in guns caught at Tampa airport since permitless carry law took effect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TSA says early figures suggest Tampa International Airport will outpace its record-breaking 2022 numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/300px-Handgun_collection.jpg?resize=300%2C202&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35889\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tampa International Airport&nbsp;has seen a 76% increase in guns caught at TSA checkpoints since July 1 when Florida&#8217;s&nbsp;permitless carry law&nbsp;took effect.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s according to TSA Federal Security Director Kirk Skinner, who says since July 1, TSA agents have found 30 firearms at checkpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat number reflects a 76% increase year over year during the same time period,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s also in addition to the guns detected between January 1 and June 30. Skinner said he expects this year to outpace&nbsp;Tampa\u2019s record-breaking 2022, where TSA found 131 guns at checkpoints. The airport ranked in the top ten of all airports for the most guns found.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;These are now 30 people that create an unsafe condition at the checkpoint. That results in the possibility of a negligent discharge,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It already happened in\u00a0Atlanta back in November 2021\u00a0after TSA found a gun in a man\u2019s carry-on luggage. When an agent began to search, the video showed the man grabbing the weapon. The gun discharged, causing chaos at the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" style=\"border:1px solid #e6e6e6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/embeds\/video\/responsive\/67-f19da287-ca9b-4126-afc3-4cfe938392c5\/iframe\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"true\" mozallowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Tampa International Airport this summer, law enforcement had to evacuate Airside F after a&nbsp;man got through a TSA checkpoint with his firearm. Screeners apparently detected it but searched the wrong bag.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;When you&#8217;re carrying a firearm, you have to carry it responsibly,\u201d Orrin Fredericks, president of the Black Lions Gun Club of Tampa Bay, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He says now that permitless carry is in place, many people are skipping important instruction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You can walk into a gun store&#8230;[and] within two to three days, you go to pick up your firearm and you haven&#8217;t had a conversation with a trained instructor of the dos and don&#8217;ts of using that firearm,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fredericks recommends signing up for a course to understand your firearm and to reinforce safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In spite of permitless carry, there&#8217;s still a need to train,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s also a need to understand the rules of traveling with a firearm.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Check with the airline to see what their policy is on bringing a firearm,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause in addition to the fee, there is a case that the gun has to be in and there&#8217;s rules that you have to obey.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And remember, your firearm is never allowed in your carry-on luggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It puts the flying public at risk when a fellow traveler brings a firearm, doesn&#8217;t know they have it and we have to go through a process of recovery and ensure that that firearm does not go off,&#8221; Skinner said. \u201cAnd many of them are loaded. They&#8217;ve got a magazine inserted. In some cases, they have a round in the chamber.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Sarasota Bradenton International Airport have also seen increases in guns caught at TSA checkpoints since July 1 when compared to the same time of the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Numbers at both airports went up by 100%, although the numbers themselves were low. St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport has up to six guns detected, compared to three. Sarasota Bradenton International Airport is up to two guns, compared to one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt&#8217;s that increase, statistically, that&#8217;s problematic. The reason I&#8217;m concerned about it, of course, is any firearm at the checkpoint creates a volatile situation for passengers,\u201d Skinner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bringing a firearm to a TSA checkpoint can come with fines up to about $15,000 and possible criminal charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Having a firearm is a right, but you don&#8217;t have the right to put other people in danger because you have failed to exercise that right responsibly,\u201d Skinner added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TSA says early figures suggest Tampa International Airport will outpace its record-breaking 2022 numbers. Tampa International Airport&nbsp;has seen a 76% increase in guns caught at TSA checkpoints since July 1&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[5998],"class_list":["post-35888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-tsa-76-spike-in-guns-caught-at-tampa-airport-since-permitless-carry-law-took-effect"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}