If you are flying somewhere for Christmas, don’t try to carry on a loaded firearm on a plane. It’s illegal.

Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) agents during the Thanksgiving holiday stopped a woman in Boston’s Logan Airport who tried to carry on a .357 magnum revolver loaded with five rounds. She was arrested and charged with a state felony.

TSA agents in Boston have stopped passengers with 16 firearms so far this year. The TSA said incidents of people trying to take a loaded firearm on a plane is increasing across the country. This year, TSA has stopped about 4,500 passengers with guns – that’s more than the 4,432 record set in 2019. Fines for improperly carrying firearms in airports range from $2,000 to more than $13,000. It is legal to transport unloaded firearms in checked baggage in hard-sided containers.

How stupid do you have to be to think you can sneak a loaded gun onto an airplane?

Don’t these passengers know that they and their carryon luggage must pass through metal detectors before they can approach the gate where they can depart?

Maybe a percentage of these passengers inadvertently picked up the wrong carryon bag at home – which is what happened one time to former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer, who at that time was coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Could it be that some people are so fearful of being in a public place that they would risk arrest rather than travel without their trusty firearm?

Here’s the answer. If you must travel with a weapon, drive your car and stay away from public transportation. The Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms the airlines are private companies and they have the right to restrict weapons on their planes.

Maybe the rise in these incidence is because law enforcement is being handcuffed by the Biden administration and many travelers are simply scared.