What happens to the guns discovered in carry-on luggage at the Boise Airport? | Opinion
The Boise Airport set another record in 2024, but it wasn’t just for the number of passengers.
The Transportation Security Administration discovered a record 49 guns in carry-on luggage at the Boise Airport in 2024. That’s a 17% increase from the previous year and more than double the number of guns discovered in 2019.
I have to admit that at times, I’ll see a gun from a press release from the Boise Airport and think to myself: “Hmm, nice gun. Wonder if I can get that at a police auction.”
No such luck.
When a TSA officer detects a firearm in carry-on luggage during X-ray screening, they immediately notify the local airport law enforcement agency. A law enforcement officer then removes the firearm from the X-ray tunnel and makes contact with the traveler. TSA officers don’t even touch the gun.
In all of the cases last year, the gun was returned to the passenger after a brief interview and an informational report was filled out. Police never take possession of the weapon.
So what happens when someone is caught trying to bring a gun through security at the airport?
Not much, it turns out.
In fact, none of the 49 people caught with a gun at the Boise Airport faced criminal charges last year, even though bringing a weapon onto a plane or even into a “sterile area” of an airport is a felony under Idaho law, a law that was passed in 1973.
That’s because all of them were determined to not have criminal intent, according to Lt. Dave Hunsaker, airport division chief of the Boise Police Department.
“These are good, law-abiding citizens,” Hunsaker said in an interview at his office Wednesday at the Boise Airport. “These aren’t criminals on the street. These are people like you and I: ‘Hey, you know what? This was my range bag last week,’ — because we do live in Idaho, right? People go to the range, right? And, you know — ‘I forgot that there was this ammunition, or there was this loaded magazine, or this is the pistol that I carry in my purse with me every day. I forgot it was in there.’ ”
Change in policy
The city of Boise changed its policy a couple of years ago for the way it handles such cases.
The city prosecutor’s office was not prosecuting these cases, as there was no intent to smuggle the firearm onto the plane, Hunsaker said.
“It was actually one of our officers that recognized that, ‘Hey, we don’t refer people for criminal prosecution for accidentally having their pocket knife in their bag, so why do we do it for a firearm?’ ” Hunsaker said. “They’re both weapons. They’re both prohibited items. Why do we do that? They’re not being prosecuted for the firearms anyway, so can we avoid a criminal complaint, unless we believe that it’s a criminal complaint?”
The police airport division worked with the city prosecutor’s office to agree on a new policy of writing informational reports instead of formal criminal reports, unless there was clear evidence of criminal intent. This avoided unnecessary criminal charges and prosecutions.
The goal was to have a more streamlined process that recognized the accidental nature of most of these incidents, rather than automatically pursuing criminal charges that were not resulting in convictions.
After an informational report is filled out and no criminal intent is determined, a passenger caught with a gun is escorted back to the public area of the airport, and the gun is returned to its owner.
From there, the passenger can take the gun to his or her vehicle or call someone to come get the gun from them and return to the airport security line.
Hunsaker said most people don’t even miss their flight.
Hunsaker said that in his four years working at the airport division, he could recall only one time in which someone was arrested for attempting to bring a weapon through security with criminal intent, and it wasn’t even a gun; it was a large knife concealed in a leg brace.
“I mean, if there was a criminal intent in any of these instances that we had, we would definitely generate a formal complaint, make an arrest,” Hunsaker said. “We would take somebody to jail, we would seize their firearm and book that into property as evidence, and go forward with the criminal process.”
Civil penalties
That doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences for people who aren’t criminally charged.
It’s still a no-no.
While the Boise Police Department handles the criminal side of the incident, TSA handles the civil side of it and can levy a penalty of up to $14,950, depending on the details.
For example, penalties for having a gun in carry-on luggage depend on whether the firearm is loaded or unloaded, and whether it is a repeat offense, according to Lorie Dankers, a TSA spokesperson.
Loaded firearms (or unloaded firearms with accessible ammunition) discovered at a security checkpoint, sterile area, or onboard an aircraft incur a penalty of $3,000-$10,700, according to TSA’s rules.
A repeat violation results in penalties of $10,700-$14,950.
TSA considers a firearm “loaded” when both the firearm and its ammunition are accessible to the passenger. For instance, if an individual has a firearm in accessible baggage and ammunition in his or her pocket, the firearm is considered “loaded.”
Unloaded firearms discovered at a security checkpoint, sterile area or onboard an aircraft incur a penalty of $1,500-$5,370.
Additionally, the TSA considers frames, receivers and 3D printed guns to be firearms under its civil enforcement program, and these items must be transported in accordance with TSA regulations in a passenger’s checked bag.
There is no minimum penalty, and Dankers declined to tell me how much people have been fined, but every passenger who was caught with a firearm last year was given some sort of fine, according to Brian May-Martinez, assistant federal security director for screening with TSA in Idaho.
In addition, travelers who violate firearm transportation rules may lose their Trusted Traveler status and TSA PreCheck benefits for a period of time. They will also receive enhanced security screening during future travels.
“So I like to always point out (that) TSA has a very defined mission, and our mission is our officers are to spot those guns and to stop them from getting onto the aircraft,” Dankers said. “We have an excellent track record of that, because they’re looking for those. They’re looking for items that would be catastrophic on an aircraft.”
So what should you do if you need to travel with a firearm?
Firearms can be transported on a commercial aircraft only if they are unloaded, packed in a locked, hard-sided case and placed in checked baggage. Even then, travelers must declare the firearm, ammunition and any firearm parts at the airline ticket counter during check-in.
Are we doing enough?
I find it hard to believe that someone would forget they have a gun in their carry-on, but equally unbelievable to me is someone thinking they could get through TSA security undetected.
Last I checked, ignorance of the law is no defense for violating the law. If I get pulled over for speeding, and I tell the officer that I forgot how fast I was going, I doubt I’d get out of the ticket.
Both Hunsaker and Jesse Horne, TSA assistant federal security director for law enforcement, Idaho, told me that no one caught with a firearm has claimed an infringement of their Second Amendment rights (why is that, by the way?).
Regardless of the reasons, Idaho is going in the wrong direction.
And it’s not just the Boise Airport; the whole state has seen a jump in firearms at TSA checkpoints.
In 2024, 64 firearms were discovered, a 36% jump from 2023, and a near tripling from just five years ago, when 24 firearms were discovered at TSA checkpoints in 2019. The Idaho Falls airport went from three guns found in 2023 to 13 found last year.
And it’s not just because we have more passengers. Boise Airport’s traffic went up 6.3% from 2023 to 2024, but gun discoveries went up 17%.
The media does stories like the one this week about the Top 10 prohibited items discovered at Idaho airports and throughout the year when guns are found at the airport, and I think TSA does a good job of publicizing the prohibition. Just about every entrance at the Boise Airport has one of those signs with the cartoon gun warning passengers not to bring a gun.
But people still do — at an alarmingly rising rate.
Maybe TSA should do a better job of publicizing the fines that people receive. A $10,000 or $14,000 fine — heck, even a $3,000 fine — would sure help me remember to leave my gun at home.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
