Plenty of US Passengers Are Packing When It Comes to Guns, Air Travel

(May 12) -- As Internet headlines swirl about an Egyptian-American botany professor who was detained in Cairo today for carrying guns and ammunition in his luggage, keep one thing in mind: Americans bring guns to the airport all the time.

Sometimes it's wrong, and sometimes it's not.

The Transportation Security Administration says people such as hunters and members of the military regularly pack their guns in check-in luggage; the catch is that they must notify the airlines that they're carrying guns in the luggage. Furthermore, the weapons must be unloaded and packed in a locked container.

TSA Officers review air traveler's boarding passes and identification at a security checkpoint inside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in 2009, in Arlington, VA.

Paul J. Richards, AFP / Getty Images

Transportation Security Administration officials check boarding passes and identification at a security checkpoint inside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va.

In today's case, the TSA said that Mohamed Ibrahim had failed to report to the airline that he was carrying two 9 mm handguns and 250 bullets before checking in his luggage at John F. Kennedy International Airport for his Egypt Air flight to Cairo. If he had done so, he would have been informed of any potential violation.

"Many other countries have different laws that address transportation and possession of firearms," Greg Soule, a spokesman for TSA, said in a statement on Ibrahim's arrest. "We recommend passengers traveling internationally check with the authorities at their destination about their requirements."

Just how many people get busted for failing to declare their firearms or ammunition in checked-in luggage is not known, since the TSA keeps no figures. But those who do get busted are subject to civil penalties of up to $1,000.

TSA does keep tabs on people who try to carry guns through airport security checkpoints, which is clearly illegal. Since January, 266 firearms have been seized at U.S. airport checkpoints. Last year 890 weapons were detected; the year before, 908.

It's hard to tell how news events may raise the consciousness of the American travelers about traveling with weapons. For instance, Times Square bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad was arrested at JFK Airport on May 4, just as his plane was about to take off for Dubai.

During the week of April 25 to May 1, the number of firearms seized at checkpoints around the country was 15. The next week, May 2 to 8, the number dropped to 12, the lowest in a month.

Could the JFK arrest have had an impact? It's unclear. What is clear is that Americans bring guns to airports all the time.