The monthly calendar has flipped to October and the fall colors are everywhere you look—fall festivals, fall farmer’s markets and fall leaves on the trees. At Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, TSA officers see colors all year long. Unfortunately, those are too often the colors of firearms.

Of course, no one is permitted to carry a firearm through a security checkpoint, regardless of what color it is, yet TSA officers continue to detect them. Most of the firearms that TSA officers intercept at security checkpoints are black, but sometimes travelers are toting much more colorful weapons.

TSA officers intercepted 5.028 firearms at airport security checkpoints during the first nine months of 2024. This total represents an average of 18.3 firearms detected per day at TSA checkpoints, more than 93% of which were loaded. Many of them are colorful, although most of them are black.

Some colorful firearms caught this year (Image 1) from the upper left: pink and black from Washington Dulles International Airport; purple from Pittsburgh International Airport; teal from Richmond International Airport; and red from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (TSA photos)

Law enforcement officials decide whether to issue a criminal citation or arrest the traveler. TSA officials also have the right to issue a civil financial penalty that typically runs into the thousands of dollars for that individual.

TSA has details on how to travel with a firearm and ammunition posted on its web site.

Other colorful firearms caught this year (Image 2) include the green one (upper left) from Buffalo Niagara International Airport; red one from Newark Liberty International Airport; purple one from West Virginia International Yeager Airport; teal and black from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (TSA photos)

Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to individuals who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a gun into a checkpoint can stretch into thousands of dollars, depending on mitigating circumstances. This applies to individuals with or without concealed gun carry permits because a concealed carry permit does not allow a firearm to be carried through a checkpoint. The complete list of civil penalties is posted online. Additionally, if a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck®, that individual will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

The most common excuse that TSA hears from travelers is that they forgot that they had their gun with them.

Unsure if an item should be packed in a carry-on bag, checked bag, either or neither? Download the free myTSA app, which has a handy “What can I bring?” feature that allows you to type in the item to find out if it can fly.