Gun found at Atlanta airport security check-in earlier this month. SOURCE: Transportation Security Administration.

That translated to 5.6 guns per day, on average, with 84% of them loaded and nearly a third (29%) with ammunition in the chamber, ready to fire.

Once again, airports in the South and West — which tend to have most lenient concealed carry regulations — dominated the list of airports with the most guns found at security checkpoints. Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix topped the list, followed by Tampa and Houston (Bush). Those 14 airports with the Top 10 number of guns found make up nearly 40% of all guns.

Data is based on an analysis of statistics compiled by the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative from weekly blog posts by the TSA. NSJI scans images of the tables that TSA posts and extracts data from them, then adds them to a master spreadsheet, which is makes available to the public to download. Data is available via NSJI’s site for 2012, 2013 and the first half of 2014.

SOURCE: Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, based on TSA reports

SOURCE: Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, based on TSA reports

Thanks to NSJI’s Tiffany Roberts for ongoing data entry support.

Visit National Security Zone’s popular TSA Gun Confiscations databases and archives.

Like a number of other local stories prompted by the data, the station found that almost everyone who is caught either pleads to a misdemeanor or wound up with their cases dropped. And “I forgot” continues to be a popular excuse for having a concealed weapon at check-in to begin with.

The number of handguns confiscated at the nation’s airport security checkpoints was up 21% through May 1 compared to a year ago — and 45% compared to 2012, a National Security Zone analysis of Transportation Security Administration data it maintains shows.

Also trending up in the first part of the year: The percentage of guns that were loaded and that had a bullet in the chamber when they were discovered in carry-ons or on the passenger. Some 85% of guns were loaded compared to 82% a year ago, and 30% had a bullet in the chamber, up from 25% in the first part of 2013.

For full story, see Medill National Security Zone.

Top airports, Jan. 1 to May 1 2014 vs. 2013

SOURCE: National Security Zone analysis of data compiled from the TSA.

The vast majority of guns — 84% — were loaded when Transportation Security Administration agents discovered them during security screenings, and of those loaded, one in three had a bullet in the chamber, ready to fire.

The increase over 2012 is the third annual jump since 2010 — and the largest.

Data used in this story was gathered and analyzed by Medill National Security Journalism Initiative from weekly data releases the TSA makes on its blog. A TSA official said Friday that final figures will be released shortly. Final numbers tend to be slightly higher than those compiled by Medill because the weekly blog post data is not updated after it is posted.

→ Read the full story

Below is a heat map that illuminates location of airports where the most guns were found. Intensity in this heat map runs from lowest (light green) to highest (dark red) based on the number of guns confiscated.

We track the TSA weekly and have built a database that is available for review and download. Details here on National Security Zone. 

Below: Weekly totals of loaded and unloaded guns. Roll your cursor over the bars to see data.

A total of 364 guns were confiscated by TSA agents at U.S. airports from Jan. 1 to March 31 as passengers tried to carry them aboard — 45 more than the first quarter last year. That is an average of four a day.

→ Read full story.

That said, we’ve officially launched our 2013 TSA gun data dashboard, where you can see weekly and daily totals by airport, along with indication of how many were loaded  (guns that is, not passengers!).

UPDATE 2/1/13: Full-month data for January shows a substantial 40% increase over January 2012 — 135 guns this year vs. 96 a year ago. The percentage that was loaded were about the same — 78% vs. 80%.

Our complete 2012 dashboard is still available as well, of course.

Through Dec. 31, 1,525 guns had been found.  (View interactive graphics of weekly totals and individual incidents by date and airport).

The pace of confiscations nationwide was up in the second half of the year compared to the first — 832 since July 1 vs. 693 from Jan. 1 to June 30.

The total this year is an increase of 16% over 2011 and 36% over 2010.

National Security Zone, part of the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative, compiles its own running database based on a weekly list of confiscations posted on the TSA Blog on Fridays. Data for the final few days of the year was released to National Security Zone on Thursday.

Of the guns confiscated, 85 percent have been loaded — and 26 percent were loaded AND had a bullet in the firing chamber.

Airports with the most confiscations so far this year: Atlanta (97); Dallas/Fort Worth (80); Phoenix (53); Houston Bush (51) and Fort Lauderdale (42).

Those top 5 airports accounted for 25% of all guns.

The first gun of 2013 was found on Wednesday at Atlanta airport, the TSA reported this week.  

A full list of the Top 15 airports is below; a sortable list of each incident by day and by airport is available here.

SOURCE: Medill National Security Zone compilation and analysis of TSA data.