TSA reports number of firearms seized at S.D. airports last year

TSA intercepted nine firearms last year at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

Nationwide, officers with the Transportation Security Administration seized 6,678 firearms at airport security checkpoints, preventing them from getting into the secure areas of the airport and onboard aircraft.

The majority, 94 percent, of these firearms were loaded, according to TSA. The total seized is a minor decrease from the  6,737 firearms stopped in 2023. Throughout 2024, TSA managed its “Prepare, Pack, Declare” public awareness campaign to explain the steps for safely traveling with a firearm.

“One firearm at a checkpoint is too many,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement. “Firearms present a safety risk for our employees and everyone else at the checkpoint. It’s also costly and slows down operations. If individuals who carry a firearm intend to travel, we remind them that the firearm must be unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case, declared to the airline at the check-in counter and transported in checked baggage.”

Last year, TSA screened more than 904 million travelers, meaning the agency intercepted 7.4 firearms per million people, a decrease from 7.8 firearms per million people in 2023.

In Sioux Falls, the nine firearms seized are an increase from five in 2023. There also were nine seized in 2022 and two each in 2021 and 2020.

The Rapid City Regional Airport had 14 firearms seized last year, compared with 12 the year before and seven in 2022.

The Aberdeen Regional Airport had one seized last year, after seeing none for the past four years.

When a firearm is detected at a security checkpoint, a transportation security officer immediately contacts local law enforcement, who removes the individual and the firearm from the checkpoint area. Depending on local laws, the law enforcement officer may arrest or cite the individual. TSA does not confiscate firearms. In addition to any action taken by law enforcement, individuals who bring a firearm to a TSA checkpoint face a maximum civil penalty of $14,950, will have their TSA PreCheck eligibility revoked for at least five years and will undergo enhanced screening to ensure that there are no other threats present, which takes up additional time.

For information on how to properly travel with a firearm, visit the transporting firearms and ammunition page on TSA.gov. View the complete list of penalties on TSA.gov.