How guns get on planes through checked bags

Authorities believe the suspect in Friday's deadly attack retrieved his a handgun from checked luggage before firing indiscriminately on the baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport.

That action illustrates yet another threat to airports: the ability to get a weapon into an area where security is the least restrictive.

Transportation Security Administration rules allow travelers to pack unloaded firearms in checked luggage, so long as passengers declare their weapons to the airline while checking in, and they are packed in a locked, hard-sided container.

Sprawling airports difficult to defend from armed attack

The strict protocols involve showing the weapon and its carrying case to an airline ticket agent, who then checks that the gun is unloaded. Ammunition may also be carried in checked baggage but must be stored separately from the gun, said David Williams, assistant professor of aerospace and occupational safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

If the high-tech baggage screening behind the scenes detects a gun that hasn't been declared, "that gun will be set aside. It will not get on the airplane. And, a law enforcement officer will find and arrest you," Williams said.

In 2015, the TSA discovered a record 2,653 guns at airport checkpoints, a 20% increase over the previous year. Guns in carry-on bags are strictly prohibited and travelers caught with firearms or ammunition at checkpoints can be fined or arrested.

Airports beef up security after Florida shooting

Numbers for 2016 aren't yet available, but the agency tallied a single-week record in August, when officers found 78 firearms in carry-on bags between Aug. 5 and 11. That broke a previous record set in May, when 74 firearms were discovered at airport checkpoints, and one set a month earlier, in April, when 73 firearms were found.

Florida is one of a handful of states where people with concealed carry permits are prohibited from carrying weapons in public places such as airports. A measure to repeal that law was set to be introduced to the state's judiciary committee Tuesday. It's unclear whether Friday's shooting will impact that bill.

Contributing: USA TODAY