Attempted Christmas Day Bombing Had Brief Impact on Airport Gun Seizures

WASHINGTON (Feb. 5) -- It looked as if the Christmas Day bombing attempt in Detroit just may have -- at least for a fleeting moment -- raised the consciousness of air travelers in the U.S. about bringing guns to the airport.

After finding 37 firearms at airport checkpoints the week of Dec. 21-27, the Transportation Security Administration discovered only 12 the week after. Things were looking hopeful.

Then it jumped back to 20 the week of Jan. 4-10. Not so hopeful.

Nancy Palmieri, AP

The Transportation Security Administration saw a dip in firearms seized at airports after the failed plot to bomb a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day. But it didn't last, and officials declined to speculate was was behind the decline.

And then came Jan. 11-17. The TSA said it found only eight guns, the lowest number since it began posting the figures on its Web site May.

But sure enough, the next week TSA reported finding 21 guns. And last week, from Jan. 25-31, it found 17.

Those latest numbers are still relatively low compared to some months, like August 2009, when the number of guns found each week ranged from 32 to 40. Nonetheless, they're a departure from the lowly figure of eight, and it's unclear what it will take to bring them back down again.

The TSA declined to speculate as to why we saw a very brief dip in guns confiscated at airports after the Christmas Day incident in which a Nigerian man tried igniting an explosive pack in his underwear on a Northwest Airlines flight.

Aviation security expert Douglas R. Laird of Laird & Associates in Reno, Nev., told AOL News that, first off, most "people don't realize they have guns with them when they go to the airport. I don't know of any incident anywhere where they were actually trying to do something harmful to the aircraft."

Nonetheless, Laird said, "When an event takes place such as Christmas Day, it brings security checkpoints to people's minds, and they do a better job of checking their hand luggage before going through a checkpoint."

But Laird said awareness is likely to dissipate "over time, and the number of guns seized will go back to normal levels."

Week	Firearm(s) at Checkpoint
05/04/09 - 05/10/09	20
05/11/09 - 05/17/09	34
05/18/09 - 05/24/09	16
05/25/09 - 05/31/09	23
06/01/09 - 06/07/09	24
06/08/09 - 06/14/09	30
06/15/09 - 06/21/09	20
06/22/09 - 06/28/09	34
06/29/09 - 07/05/09	25
07/06/09 - 07/12/09	26
07/13/09 - 07/19/09	40
07/20/09 - 07/26/09	20
07/27/09 - 08/02/09	22
08/03/09 - 08/09/09	41
08/10/09 - 08/16/09	34
08/17/09 - 08/23/09	37
08/24/09 - 08/30/09	32
08/31/09 - 09/06/09	36
09/07/09 - 09/13/09	40
09/14/09 - 09/20/09	25
09/21/09 -09/27/09	20
09/28/09 - 10/04/09	31
10/05/09 - 10/11/09	35
10/12/09 -10/18/09	30
10/19/09 - 10/25/09	28
10/26/09 - 11/01/09	29
11/02/09 - 11/08/09	27
11/09/09 - 11/15/09	22
11/16/09 - 11/22/09	24
11/23/09 - 11/29/09	19
11/30/09 - 12/06/09	17
12/07/09 - 12/13/09	13
12/14/09 - 12/20/09	17
12/21/09 - 12/27/09	37
12/28/09 - 01/03/10	12
01/04/10 - 01/10/10	20
01/11/10 - 01/17/10	8
01/18/10 - 01/24/10	21

Source: Transportation Security Administration