Roughly 18 guns seized every day at US airports last year: AP

NEW YORK -- A total of 6,542 guns were intercepted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) last year at airport checkpoints across the United States, reported The Associated Press (AP) on Monday.

"The number -- roughly 18 per day -- was an all-time high for guns intercepted at U.S. airports, and is sparking concern at a time when more Americans are armed," said the report.

"What we see in our checkpoints really reflects what we're seeing in society, and in society there are more people carrying firearms nowadays," TSA administrator David Pekoske was quoted as saying.

With the exception of pandemic-disrupted 2020, the number of weapons intercepted at airport checkpoints has climbed every year since 2010, according to the report.

"Experts don't think this is an epidemic of would-be hijackers -- nearly everyone caught claims to have forgotten they had a gun with them -- but they emphasize the danger even one gun can pose in the wrong hands on a plane or at a checkpoint," it noted.