Then there are the travelers, few but growing in number, who have a similar reaction, albeit more severe, over an item that they forgot to unpack before boarding. The forehead slap is usually followed by a fine and sometimes a night in jail.
Across the country, people are increasingly being caught at security checkpoints with firearms in their carry-on bags. Nowhere does this happen more often than at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the nation’s busiest airport and a magnet of sorts for gun-carrying fliers.
Through last week, the Transportation Security Administration had seized 67 guns this year at Hartsfield-Jackson, putting it ahead of last year’s pace and giving the airport a comfortable lead over Dallas-Fort Worth International in its defense of a dubious title. (Not every seizure results in an arrest; the exceptions include some military personnel.) Nationwide, security agents had seized 862 through the first half of 2013, a rate likely to eclipse last year’s record of 1,556.
For Atlanta airport officials and law enforcement authorities, the increase in gun seizures poses a vexing problem, one that strains their security resources even as they continue to search, seemingly in vain, for a way to persuade travelers to leave their guns at home.
Typical was the experience of William Henry Murphy III, the bishop of an Atlanta church and a frequent flier. One morning in June, Pastor Murphy rushed through packing in what he recalled as a stressful period. He had arrived home from ministering at 2:30 a.m. with the 9-millimeter handgun that the church board advises him to carry as a late-night safety measure.
“I didn’t go through my normal routine; the bag I carry at church on a day-to-day basis was thrown into my carry-on without me repacking,” said Pastor Murphy, also a gospel singer who has a recording on YouTube with nearly five million clicks.
There wa no intention of storing the gun with his toothbrush and trying to whisk it through security.
Pastor Murpy was bothered by what he said were assumptions in the news media that the gun was consciously packed.
“Anybody who’s ever been through the airport knows that was not the case,” he said.
That would certainly include John Turner, a lawyer with 40 years of experience and who routinely passes through courthouse metal detectors. But knowledge of the law did not prevent Mr. Turner from the same fate.
Two years ago, Mr. Turner hurriedly donned his usual airplane uniform — jogging suit and fanny pack — for a flight with his wife to a niece’s graduation. The previous evening, as usual, he had tucked his small handgun into the pack for protection during his daily walk with the family dog.
“I didn’t thik it was in there,” he said. “I had always removed it.Like Pastor Murphy and the others, Mr. Turner was arrested and taken to the Clayton County jail near the airport. It was a place he was familiar with. Turner is a former prosecutor for the county.
Tasha Mosley, the county’s solicitor general, is mystified at the regularity with which the gun violations come across her desk. After all, licensed gun owners can store weapons in checked luggage after filling out paperwork.
“It’s just mind-boggling. Just stupid,” she said, considering the projected number of seizures for the year. “There can’t be a hundred people who are that clueless.
You need to know where your gun is at all times.Ms. Mosley, who decided to consider prosecuting violators starting in 2011, rattled off some commonly heard excuses: hiding the gun from children and forgetting about it, and grabbing the wrong briefcase while leaving the office.Lots of sob stories people crying, saying it was a sentimental gun given to them by their father,” she said. “I just smile at them.Those without a record, besides forfeiting the firearm, are generally directed to pretrial diversion. That means attending classes and performing community service to avoid criminal charges.
The parade of violators has been sprinkled with at least two rappers and a pro football player, a priest and an off-duty pilot, a chamber of commerce president and a higher-up with a sports collectibles company. There also was an executive with a Fortune 500 company and an owner of an equestrian farm.She was hard to handle, thinking she was going to get it her way,” Ms. Mosley said. “I had to explain this wasn’t Burger King.Most bewildering of all to Mosley is the handful of repeat customers — two-time arrestees.
Me and my guys kind of chuckle when that happens,” she said.
Infractions can be costly. Besides court and lawyer fees, the T.S.A. imposes a fine of $200 to $11,000. Factors determining the amount include the significance of the security risk, whether the violation was negligent or deliberate, the attitude of the offender and previous indiscretions. Last year, the agency collected $1,887,745 nationwide.
Ms. Mosley suggested that denying flight privileges to offenders would pose a greater deterrent.
“That’s the only way to get these people’s attention and make them stop,” she said.
But only the F.B.I. operates a no-fly list, and it is aimed at suspected terrorists. The T.S.A.’s lone hammer is suspending the expedited screening courtesy for violators who have paid for the service.
At Hartsfield-Jackson, signs wer recently installed near the screening areas that depict a firearm with a red slash across it and other items banned from carry-on bags.
“We just want to provide them with an aditional warning,” the airport’s general manager, Louis Miller, said, adding that the burden of making arrests cuts significantly into law enforcement resources as well as temporarily shutting down security lanes. “I think they’ll do some good.”
Mr. Turner expressed doubt on the signs, saying they would have not affected his situation because he had forgotten he had a gun in his possession.
“It doesn’t hurt anything, but how effective it will be is another issue,” he said.
Pastor Murphy, by contrast, endorsed the visual reminder. “I’m absolutely for more signage within the lines of sight,” he said.
If the signs turn out to have minimal effect, more and varied alerts are possible. Mr. Miller indicated that he would weigh the option of an audio heads-up for those in the security queue.
For reasons other than its high traffic, Atlanta’s airport is the logical leader for seizures.
The state has relatively lenient gun-carry laws, approving possession by registered owners just about everywhere but schools, bars and places of worship during services.
Firearms were prohibited from all airport property until late 2010, when the state Legislature and the courts agreed that they should be permitted. As a result, warning signs on the airport perimeter were removed.
If the system is adjusted, Pastor Murphy said, it should be to allow first-time transgressors to return the firearms to their vehicles or leave the premises without consequence.
At least Mr. Turner, who now triple-checks his fanny pack before falling into the security line, drew some benefit from his ordeal. Mr. Turner became well prepared to defend a client who was arrested at the airport with a weapon in his carry-on.
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