Source: A-Digit / Getty
Travelers were walking around North Carolina airports with firearms and forgot seemed like a lot in 2021. TSA seized over 200 guns in the state.
TSA says its officers seized 106 guns at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in 2021, nearly double the number they seized at the airport in the previous year. And another 100 firearms were taken at the security checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, three times the total in 2020.
TSA reports the firearms were discovered by TSA officers during the routine screening of carry-on property at airport security checkpoints.
Elsewhere, Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro reported 12 firearms seized, double the amount in 2020. At Asheville Regional Airport, TSA says 15 firearms were taken, compared to five in the previous year.
Below is a breakdown:
| Airport | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Charlotte Douglas Int’l (CLT) | 76 | 74 | 55 | 106 |
| Raleigh-Durham Int’l (RDU) | 66 | 70 | 33 | 100 |
| Piedmont Triad Int’l (GSO) | 14 | 18 | 6 | 12 |
| Asheville Regional (AVL) | 2 | 13 | 5 | 15 |
| Wilmington Int’l (ILM) | 7 | 9 | 3 | 6 |
| Fayetteville Regional (FAY) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Albert J. Ellis Airport (OAJ) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Concord-Padgett Regional (JQF) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Coastal Carolina Regional (EWN) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Pitt-Greenville Airport (PGV) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina total: | 180 | 194 | 105 | 254 |
| Nationwide total: | 4,239 | 4,432 | 3,257 | 5,972 |
