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       With 2？ months left in the year, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday it has seized a record number of guns from travelers at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport.

       On Monday, TSA officers stopped a traveler from bringing a loaded gun through an airport checkpoint — the 36th gun found by officers this year. In 2022, TSA officers seized 35 guns from BWI travelers. The number of firearm seizures at BWI mirrors a national trend at the nation’s airports.

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       “It’s shocking to see that we have already surpassed the previous high number of guns caught and we are still in early October,” Grant Goodlett, TSA’s deputy federal security director for Maryland, said in a statement. “There is absolutely no excuse for bringing a gun to our checkpoints because you certainly can’t carry it onto your flight.”

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       Reagan National Airport is on track to set a record for the number of guns intercepted at its checkpoints by the end of the year. To date, 29 guns have been seized at National — equal to the number found during all of last year. At Dulles International Airport, TSA officers have seized 18 guns this year after discovering 25 during all of 2022.

       TSA reports increase in gun seizures at airports in D.C. region

       The increase at BWI is similar to a rise at other airports. Earlier this month, TSA reported it had seized more than 5,000 guns at airport security checkpoints, including more than 1,800 in the past quarter. More than 94 percent of those guns were loaded, the agency said.

       Given the rate of firearm interceptions, TSA said it expects to break a record set last year, when more than 6,500 guns were found.

       Last December, TSA increased the maximum civil penalty for such violations from $13,910 to $14,950. In addition, travelers could also lose their PreCheck eligibility for five years. The higher penalties, however, have not stopped the trend.

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