Security screeners have taken more than 1,500 guns from airline passengers so far this year, far ahead of last year’s tally, the Transportation Security Administration said today.
If the trend holds through Dec. 31, the number of TSA gun seizures will be more than 15 percent ahead of last year’s tally of 1,320 guns.
During the week that ended Dec. 21 — the most recent data the TSA has published — screeners took 34 guns from passengers, including 32 that were loaded.
In the previous week, screeners found 29 guns, including 21 that were loaded.
TSA officials say many people caught with guns simply forgot that they were carrying them.
The agency posts pictures of unusual weaponry seized from passengers on its Web site.
Earlier this month, screeners at Kennedy Airport found a passenger with 26 stun guns in a carry-on bag. Stun guns aren’t included in the firearm tally, but are not allowed on planes.
Among the other items taken from passengers around the country in recent weeks were an A4 rocket launcher found in a checked bag at an airport in Latrobe, PA, and a speargun found in a carry-on bag in Houston.
bsanderson@nypost.com