© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

TSA: Number Of Firearms Found At Airport Security Up In Wichita

Nadya Faulx
/
KMUW
A TSA representative says an airport the size of Wichita's usually sees 2-3 firearms annually. So far this year, 17 have been found.

The head of TSA in Kansas says the number of concealed firearms found at the security checkpoint at Wichita’s Eisenhower Airport has spiked this year.

An airport the size of Wichita’s will typically see about 2 or 3 firearms at the passenger screening point every year, says Jay Brainard, security director for the Kansas TSA--usually because someone forgets they have it in their carry-on bag.

But Brainard says says so far this year, officers have recovered 17 firearms.

“We saw the uptick almost immediately after the concealed carry rule came into play, and more people started carrying firearms," he says. "We have had a very small number of occurrences where somebody thought they could carry it on an aircraft because it was open carry, or concealed carry.”

He says if a firearm is found, TSA will refer the case to local law enforcement, who decide whether to pass it on to federal prosecutors.

TSA can fine passengers upwards of about $10,000 if a loaded firearm is found at the checkpoint.

--

Follow Nadya Faulx on Twitter @NadyaFaulx.

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

Nadya Faulx is KMUW's Digital News Editor and Reporter, which means she splits her time between working on-air and working online, managing news on KMUW.org, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. She joined KMUW in 2015 after working for a newspaper in western North Dakota. Before that she was a diversity intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.