US: TSA: 4th gun discovered at Midway Airport this month

TSA agents at Midway Airport have discovered four firearms in a three-week period this month — what TSA officials describe as an unusually high amount. The most recent firearm was discovered Wednesday at the airport's TSA checkpoint, where agents found a loaded 9 mm Springfield firearm inside a 41-year-old Phoenix man's luggage as it was screened, officials said. TSA officials alerted Chicago Police and the man was arrested, the federal agency said in a news release. Before Wednesday's arrest, TSA agents found firearms in carry-on luggage and bags on three other occasions this month — March 8, 12 and 20. Three of the four firearms were loaded when detected by TSA officers. So far this year, six firearms were discovered by TSA agents as travellers were heading through the South Side airport's security checkpoints. Officials at the TSA called this three-week spike at Midway unusual, noting that 16 firearms were discovered each year in both 2015 and 2016 at Midway. What prompted this month's spike isn't entirely clear. "Some of the increase may be attributed to the overall increase in passenger volume," TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy said.<br/>