Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers found a .22 caliber revolver in a man’s carry-on bag at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The revolver appears to be a North American Arms Black Widow .22 Magnum with Boot Clip grips. These are some of the smallest repeating pistols made. They carry five shots of .22 magnum cartridges, as can be seen in the TSA photograph of the pistol, which was discovered on September 21, 2023. From tsa.gov:
A King George, Va., man was cited by police after he was stopped by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers with a loaded handgun at one of the checkpoints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, Sept. 21. The .22 caliber pistol was loaded with five bullets and was packed in the man’s carry-on bag.
The gun was caught as the man entered the security checkpoint. The X-ray unit alerted the TSA to take a closer look and inspect the carry-on bag, which was opened by police for a closer inspection. Police confiscated the gun and cited the man on state charges. The man blamed his wife and told officials that she packed his carry-on bag and did not know that he already had his loaded gun inside.
More than 22 million people have concealed carry permits in the United States. Over half the states in the United States have restored permitless carry, where no permit is required to carry a loaded handgun, concealed or openly. Those states have a population of about 150 million people. Roughly 6.6% of the entire population have carry permits, or 8.5% of adults.
In 2022, there were 853 million passenger enplanements in the United States. Assuming 6.6% of them have carry permits, the number of times people who have carry permits traveled on airplanes in 2022 was 56.3 million.
In 2022, the TSA found 6,542 firearms at TSA checkpoints; 88% were loaded. The number of people with concealed carry permits who made a mistake and forgot firearms were in their carry-on, purse, or even in a jacket pocket was slightly more than 1/1000 of 1 percent. To put it another way, those who remembered to follow the rules were an astounding 99.999%
This is an astonishingly low error rate for human actions. The error rate would be even lower if we counted the 117 million adults who can legally carry without a permit.
When 99.999% of adults follow a rule, it is an incredible success. This rule is backed by armed agents with sophisticated detection systems and stiff penalties. The rule that requires airlines to allow firearms and ammunition in checked baggage helps. Nearly all responsible adults will choose a legal alternative if it is available.
When the rule for checked baggage was initiated, one or two checked bags were included in virtually all flights. It has become the norm for airlines to charge a fee for checked luggage. This has a chilling effect on people exercising their Second Amendment rights. As a reasonable compromise, checked baggage, which must be used to be able to exercise Second Amendment rights, should be available for free or heavily discounted, perhaps 20% of the normal rate, to those Americans who are exercising those rights.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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