Metro

Grenade, guns & other TSA-seized weapons

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So much for the friendly skies!

TSA agents have caught fliers trying to take everything from a grenade launcher to live cannonballs onto flights this year.

The jaw-dropping list of seized weaponry also includes chain saws, a spear gun, nunchucks, an anti-tank warhead and bear mace — strong pepper spray that someone in Newark tried to hide in a sock, according to TSA stats from January through July.

The live cannonball confiscated in February was checked in by a Florida scuba diver who discovered it while swimming near an old shipwreck.

What he thought was a coral-covered souvenir was actually a highly explosive, still viable bomb that forced the evacuation of the checked-baggage area and caused three flight delays.

At least two other cannonballs were confiscated in the first six months of this year, officials said.

In addition to the bizarre munitions, agents with the Transportation Security Administration also seized a cadre of more ordinary firearms in the first seven months of the year.

That included 821 guns, rifles and pistols discovered in carry-on luggage at 160 different airports.

Disturbingly, 691 of those firearms were loaded and 210 were locked and loaded.

The most popular weapon confiscated is the compact .380, with 197 found so far this year.

Officials said on an average day passengers attempt to bring four weapons onto US airplanes.

“It’s alarming the amount of people who say they forgot they had a gun on them,” said Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokeswoman.

Not everyone, however, can feign ignorance. In March, agents confiscated a gun from inside a hollowed-out book in Honolulu.

In another instance, agents found a .40-caliber pistol in a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

When passengers are caught taking contraband onto airplanes, TSA agents alert local law enforcement, which decides whether or not to prosecute.

New York-area airports tend to have very few guns found during check-in, likely because of stricter laws that mean fewer people carry firearms, said Farbstein.

But this area has had its share of oddball weapon confiscations.

Law enforcement seized ninja-style throwing stars in March from a Bruce Lee wannabe boarding at La Guardia Airport.

That same month, officials confiscated a Mace gun in Newark.

Meanwhile, a passenger at Kennedy Airport tried to board with a kitchen knife mounted to the front of his walker in May.

“It’s mind-blowing the things people bring,” said Farbstein.