TSA found a record number of guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023. Almost all of them were loaded.

ZeroCool@slrpnk.net to News@lemmy.world – 231 points –
TSA found a record number of guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023. Almost all of them were loaded.
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You have to think most of these guns were brought by accident and were pistols. Most people keep their pistols loaded because they have them to kill other people if necessary. An unloaded gun is less lethal. People who carry all the time seem to get careless after a while. Inb4 stories of people with pistols just for snakes or bears or whatever, that is definitely not the most common use case. I know someone who had a gun in his bag and they charged him like $500ish dollars to mail it back to himself and threatened him with fines up to $2000 but there were no additional fines levied.

You have to think most of these guns were brought by accident and were pistols.

While that is certainly true, it doesn't make it much better. It means that a bunch of people are forgetting what they've done with their loaded firearms when they go to the airport. Seems to me that if you are a responsible gun owner, you'd damned well better know where your gun is at all times, especially if it's loaded.

It depends on the culture within each state.

I worked with a guy from Florida who was telling us that legit everyone in Florida carried a gun, and that it was so common to keep one on you that when he left for work one day and realized that he’d left his gun at home, he did a u-turn and went all the way back home to get his gun before heading on to work.

I don’t feel like that is necessary for me, but then I’ve never lived in Florida either.

As someone who used to live in Florida, I don't know anyone that owned a gun. I'm gonna assume that guy was probably just crazy.

Well that's most definitely quite normal... /S

An unloaded gun is less lethal.

An unloaded gun is about as "lethal" as a small rock...?

I'd upgrade it to crescent wrench lethality. Below hammer or screwdriver but above rock

Only slightly below hammer if you're pistol whipping someone

Yeah it depends on the gun too though. A long barrel pistol you could have the mechanical advantage but a little snub nose and you might as well just be holding a roll of quarters.

Are you not familiar with the pistol whip? Your can fuck someone up, or even kill them, with an unloaded firearm.