Newark Airport's TSA agents confiscated 14 guns from passengers in 2022

NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Newark Liberty International Airport has tied the previous record for the most guns confiscated in a year.

TSA agents found a loaded firearm in a passenger's carry-on in Terminal C on Thanksgiving. It's the 14th gun found by airport security this year.

The security agency says the man faces a federal financial civil penalty that will run into the thousands of dollars.

Passengers are permitted to fly with a gun if it is checked and declared with the airline.

Back in June, TSA held a news conference to address the alarming number of guns and ammunition found at the airport.

"Eighty percent of the firearms we detect are loaded when they are found in that carry-on bag," New Jersey TSA Federal Security Director Thomas Carter said in June. "Twenty-five percent of those have a round in the chamber."

2018 was the last time Newark caught 14 guns at checkpoints.