A record number of firearms was confiscated from US airport passengers in 2022, transport officials have said.

A total of 6,301 guns were taken at checkpoints as of mid-December – and of those 88% were still loaded.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it expects to confiscate 6,600 guns by year’s end – a 10% increase over 2021’s record level.

The agency said guns brought to airports consumes significant resources and is very costly for the passenger.

The number of guns found surpasses the previous record from just last year, when 5,972 firearms were detected.

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, had the highest number of recorded firearm stops, while Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in the state of Texas had the second highest.

No reason was given for why more people were attempting to clear security while carrying a weapon.

Gun possession laws vary by US state, but firearms are not allowed in the passenger cabin on an aeroplane, even if a passenger has a concealed weapon permit.

If TSA officials detect a weapon at a checkpoint, they issue a civil penalty that varies by number of previous offenses and whether the gun was loaded at the time.

The agency also said It is raising the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 (£11,450) to $14,950.

Airline passengers can travel with firearms in a checked bag when they are unloaded and locked in a hard-sided case. Travelers must also tell airline representatives that they intend to travel with the weapon during check-in.

In April a US Congressman, Madison Cawthorn, was stopped attempting to bring a gun through security at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, local police said. He admitted the weapon was his and cooperated with officers.

The TSA said it screened more than 2.5 million individuals nationwide on 27 November – the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday – marking the highest volume since the start of the pandemic.

There were an estimated 390 million guns in circulation in the US in 2018, according to figures from the Small Arms Survey – a Swiss-based leading research project. (BBC)

•Security personnels in an airport at US

Twitter reinstates banned journalists’ accounts

Since buying the social media platform, Elon Musk has changed many of its moderation practices

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk says several journalists he suspended from his social media company, Twitter, will have their accounts reinstated.

Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post were among those locked out of their accounts, after Mr Musk accused them of sharing location data about him.

But amid mounting criticism, he asked Twitter users what to do next.

And 59% of the 3.6 million who took part voted to lift the ban immediately.

“The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now,” he tweeted.

The ban was condemned by the EU and UN.

However, one notable account, @ElonJet, remains suspended. The account’s owner Jack Sweeney, 20, used publicly available flight-tracking information to tweet every time Mr Musk’s jet took off and landed.

Mr Musk had blamed the account for an incident involving “a crazy stalker” who he said had accosted his son while travelling in a car

On Thursday, Mr Musk said legal action was being taken against Mr Sweeney and others.

Twitter’s privacy policy was also updated to say that users “may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission”.

Some of the journalists suspended on Twitter had reported on the incident involving the jet tracking account.

Following the suspensions, bodies such as the EU and the UN, as well as governments and journalists, condemned the move.

“Media freedom is not a toy,” the UN’s under secretary general Melissa Fleming said. “A free press is the cornerstone of democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation.”

EU commissioner Vera Jourova had threatened Twitter with sanctions under Europe’s new Digital Services Act which she said requires “the respect of media freedom and fundament rights”.

Since taking the helm at Twitter, Mr Musk has made a host of changes to its moderation practices.

He has restored a handful of previously banned accounts, including former President Donald Trump’s profile, which was banned following the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol.

The Tesla CEO has also slashed the social media company’s staff and has reportedly stopped paying rent for some of Twitter’s offices, including the company’s San Francisco headquarters, according to the New York Times. (BBC)

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