3400 guns were confiscated at US airports last year

MORE and more Australians visit the US every year, and there’s a very serious thing we need to talk about.

Here is just a random selection of guns confiscated at US airports in 2016. Picture: TSA Source: Supplied

AMERICA is a land of big personalities, huge meals, and sweeping landscapes.

It’s an incredibly popular destination for Australians, our third favourite choice behind New Zealand and Bali, and we’re flooding through their airports in greater numbers every year.

It’s generally a safe country, but there’s a very serious thing you should know about.

Last year, America’s Transport Safety Administration (TSA) confiscated a record 3400 guns at airport security. That works out to nine guns every single day.

Shockingly, 83 per cent of them were loaded.

America’s TSA has just revealed the exponential rate of gun confiscation at airports. Picture: TSA

It’s the highest number since the TSA was founded in 2001, following the horrific September 11 terror attacks in New York.

While it’s commonly known American citizens have the right to bear arms under the second amendment of the US Constitution, gun toting at airports is out of control.

In 2007, just 803 guns were seized — less than a quarter of last year’s tally.

There was a 28 per cent jump in guns between 2015 and 2016 alone.

Mashable reports the highest number of firearms was seized at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, with 198.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas — an airport frequently used by Australian travellers — was a close second, with 192.

Bearing arms is so common in these parts of the United States most travellers claim they simply forgot there was a gun in their bags.

According to the TSA website, passengers are never allowed to bring guns into the cabin, but they can bring along “unloaded firearms in a locked hard-sided container as checked baggage” as long as they declare them when checking the bag.

However, even that doesn’t always guarantee flyer safety.

Esteban Santiago will face court this week over the Fort Lauderdale shooting. Picture: Amy Beth Bennett

Take the tragic shooting at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Airport Orlando International Airport earlier this month.

Police say the suspect, 26-year-old Esteban Santiago, transported a gun and two ammunition magazines in checked baggage on the flight from Minnesota.

After picking his bag up from the carousel, he went to the men’s toilet and assembled the weapon, tucking it into his waistband.

He emerged at 12:54pm — firing shots randomly down the hall.

Five people were killed and six others injured in the frenzy. Santiago is set to face court on Wednesday over the massacre.

It’s not always deadly, however.

Sometimes, guns simply lead to intense discomfort inside the terminal.

In June 2015, Jim Cooley carried a fully loaded AR-15 assault rifle into Atlanta airport. He uploaded a video of the incident, which shows a female police officer questioning him.

“I just wanted to let you know, I guess you got quite a few people afraid because calls are just coming in left and right,” she said.

“Well, people’s fear are not my responsibility,” he replied with a heavy drawl.

“I’m just curious, do you have a permit?” she asked.

“Am I being detained? If I’m not being detained you can’t even ask me if I have a permit ... If I am being detained, I’m going to have to file a lawsuit,” he said.

“It comes down to being a responsible gun owner,” the TSA’s Mike England told Mashable’s Marissa Wenzke. When security does find a gun in carry-on, he said “The first thing we do is call the police.”

After that, gun-toters can be fined up to US$11,000 (A$14,670).

The rules differ slights in Georgia, however. In 2014, a rule called “Guns Everywhere” was imposed, allowing people who “forgot” guns were in their carry-on bags to simply walk back through the airport and give it to someone else at the airport, without a penalty.

However, the airport was having such a big problem with weapons — as you can see from Cooley’s case — they recently started imposing fines of up to US$100,000 (A$133,370) for passengers caught carrying guns.

It’s not necessarily dangerous, but it’s definitely worth knowing.