NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) -- Air travelers in Louisiana airports have tried to bring dozens of guns onto airplanes this year, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

According to a news release dated April 15, TSA officers across the state of Louisiana have intercepted 46 firearms at airport security checkpoints so far this year, with 44 of them loaded. 

Eight of those 46 were found at Lafayette Regional Airport.

The largest number in Louisiana so far in 2025 was at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where officers stopped 28 firearms at the security checkpoint. 

Nationwide, TSA officers intercepted 6,678 firearms at airport checkpoints in 2024. In 2023, 6,737 firearms were intercepted at airport checkpoints. It was the first annual decrease in firearms detected at checkpoints other than in 2020 when COVID saw a sizable decrease in the number of passengers who flew that year, the release said.

Of the firearms intercepted in 2024, approximately 94 percent were loaded, officials said. Firearms were stopped at 277 airport checkpoints nationwide in 2024, including each of the seven federalized airports in Louisiana. 

TSA Federal Security Director for the State of Louisiana Arden Hudson said if you are going to travel with your firearm it must be in your checked bag, unloaded and in a locked hard-sided case.

"You must declare it to the airline at check-in," said Hudson. "Travelers are responsible for being aware of what the firearm laws are on each side of their trip or they may be cited or arrested. Firearms may not be legal to transport even in checked baggage in some jurisdictions."

Last year passengers across the state of Louisiana brought 128 firearms to TSA security checkpoints compared to 138 across the state in 2023. MSY saw a decrease from 93 to 78 in 2024 compared to 2023, but the other airports in the state were the same or higher. 

The specific totals at the other Louisiana airports so far in 2025:

• Lafayette Regional Airport: 8
• Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport: 5
• Shreveport Regional Airport: 3
• Alexandria International Airport: 1
• Monroe Regional Airport: 1

“Thanks to the vigilance and dedication of our TSA officers, each of these firearms was intercepted before they could make it into the cabin of an aircraft,” Hudson said.

Many of the passengers across the country who bring firearms to a federal security checkpoint are arrested or issued notices to appear in court, Hudson said. Regardless of whether the individual is arrested or cited by local law enforcement, passengers face a civil penalty imposed by the TSA that can reach nearly $15,000. If the traveler is in the TSA PreCheck program, those privileges will be lost, possibly permanently.

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