MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers stopped 19 firearms at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport checkpoints last year, a decrease from the 21 guns caught in 2022, according to the administration. 

Nationwide, TSA officers stopped a total of 6,737 firearms at checkpoints, and approximately 93% of them were loaded. The TSA says this total surpasses the previous year's record of 6,542 firearms stopped at checkpoints and is the highest one-year total in TSA's history.

“Responsible gun owners know where their guns are and they know not to bring them to a checkpoint,” Wisconsin TSA Federal Security Director Mark Lendvay said. “We urge passengers to start with an empty bag so you know with certainty that there is nothing prohibited inside. Bringing a firearm to the checkpoint is a careless, dangerous mistake that passengers can easily avoid.”

The TSA says Milwaukee passengers brought guns to the airport at rates below the national average, at a rate of one firearm discovery for every 176,851 travelers screened. 

Passengers caught with a gun at a checkpoint face arrest or citation. They also face a civil penalty up to $15,000, revocation of TSA PreCheck eligibility for at least five years, and may face additional screening. 

TSA says passengers are allowed to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case and declared at the airline check-in counter.

For information on how to properly travel with a firearm posted, visit the TSA website.