TSA discloses its annual firearm screening report for Bellingham airport
Transportation Security Administration screeners in Washington set a statewide record for firearms found at security checkpoints in 2022, according to an emailed statement Friday, Jan. 20.
But TSA workers only found a single firearm in carry-on luggage at Bellingham International Airport last year, the TSA said in its statement.
Security officers in Washington detected 164 firearms among travelers’ personal effects in 2022.
A majority of the firearms, 113 guns, were discovered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s security checkpoints during routine X-ray screening of carry-on items.
Nationwide last year, TSA officers found 6,542 firearms at 262 airports, the TSA said.
Bellingham International Airport, known by its code name BLI, saw 338,000 travelers in 2022, far fewer than Sea-Tac’s 17.3 million passengers.
A total of two firearms were found at the Bellingham airport in 2021, none in 2020, and four guns were found in 2019.
