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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 26, 2023 11:07 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Dan Frankel |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Ensuring Air Travel Safety: The TSA Firearm Compliance Act |
Gun owners who wish to transport their firearms while flying have a safe avenue available to them: unloaded weapons may be legally transported through checked baggage if placed inside a locked, hard-shell container.
And yet thousands of Pennsylvania travelers, along with airport workers and members of law enforcement, are put in peril each year when individuals attempt to bring guns through carryon luggage checkpoints in airports.
Of the about 6,500 guns seized from TSA screening areas last year, 88 percent were loaded.
And in 100 percent of those cases, the firearm owners’ explanation? “I forgot.”
In addition to the obvious safety risk posed by unsecured firearms, this ongoing problem is a drain on TSA resources and a distraction from other dangers that could compromise air travel safety – not to mention a cause of major delays in airports.
Security and law enforcement officials have tried everything: the feds increased fines, PA’s sheriffs have stepped up signage and educational efforts and the media dutifully writes story after story as the incidents of TSA confiscation occur.
But it keeps happening.
Soon I will introduce legislation that specifically enumerates bringing a firearm into a TSA checkpoint among the reasons for revoking a permit to carry one.
Responsible gun owners do not forget they are carrying a loaded weapon. Responsible gun owners do not need intervention from the TSA to stop them from attempting to board airplanes while armed.
Please join me in giving our law enforcement the tools they need to keep air travel safe for all. |
Memo Updated: December 26, 2023 11:15 AM