More Americans are trying to take their weapons on planes

Loose gun laws lead to more interceptions at airports

Travelers at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. Airline passenger numbers in the U.S. totaled 2.12 million on Dec. 19, compared with 1.06 million the same weekday a year earlier, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Aug 11th 2022|Atlanta

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, south of Atlanta, is, by passenger numbers, America’s biggest. Flying through it offers a quintessentially American airport experience. At the security checkpoint, where in other countries signs would remind you to discard liquids, televisions display a revolving 3d image of a handgun. Passengers are reminded in large lettering that no weapons are allowed in the concourse. For guns to be transported, they must be checked as baggage, unloaded, and locked in a dedicated container.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Oops, I did it again”