Travelers flying out of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport tried to bring 93 guns onto flights in 2018, according to the Transportation Security Administration's annual tally.
The number of firearms discovered at security checkpoints and in carry-on bags put ABIA in the No. 8 spot on the agency's list of overall seizures for the year. But, proportionally, Austin led the country in its ratio of passengers to firearms seized.
For comparison, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport led the country in passengers and in firearm discoveries last year. TSA agents found 298 guns at checkpoints and in luggage at the Atlanta airport, which had 107 million passengers in 2018. In Austin, there were 93 discoveries compared to 15.8 million passengers.
Austin wasn't the only Texas airport to make the list. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport trailed behind Atlanta in 2018 with 219 firearm discoveries overall. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston was No. 6 on the list with 117 firearms. And at at Dallas Love Field Airport, which ranked ninth on the overall list, agents found 89 firearms.
In total, TSA screeners found a record-setting 4,239 firearms at airports nationwide last year, a 7 percent increase over 2017, 86 percent of those firearms were loaded, the agency says.
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