Ever shot a gun? Done so a lot? Licensed to carry concealed? Carry a lot?

I carry on my hip at between 4-5 o'clock, and it is not a small or light gun (4" aluminum frame M1911 + spare magazine on other side), so I don't exactly forget that I'm carrying it, but on the other hand the fact that I'm carrying doesn't register strongly---mostly, it's about keeping my pants on ^_^. I notice that the TSA's Instagram page shows small guns (smaller than mine) with one possible exception, and states all but the derringers were found in carry on bags.

Carrying is something you get accustomed to, and a lot of people get complacent. Massad Ayoob in his safety video talks about it becoming like "Fluffy", your pet dog or whatever.

With 43 states as of today (Illinois) having de jure or de facto shall issue regimes (plus much upstate New York, rural California and Massachusetts (!), and Rhode Island is confused), well more than 2/3rds of the population can legally carry concealed. As of last summer Clayton Cramer and the GAO independently estimated 7.5 and 8 million people have concealed carry licenses. That number is skyrocketing based on all reports, Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming and as of this month Arkansas don't even require a license, and Illinois will be adding upwards of 10 million citizens eligible.

Yow, now 8 out of the top 10 states by population, all but California (1) and New York (3), all but 5 out of the top 20.

So, yeah, that many people, I can believe that much forgetfulness. Also, a lot of people forget spare magazines (with or without ammo), which are also in the same category.

Literally millions of Americans carry guns legally as part of their everyday routine. It's not surprising that dozens of them a week forget that they have it on them when they go to the airport.

Funny that they bring their toothbrush and remember that the white zone is for loading and unloading of passengers only, but they miss all the signs saying "Please don't bring a loaded gun through airport security".

You really think less people forget their toothbrush?

Yeah, that is funny. People are funny. This shouldn't be a news flash.

Is your opinion then that 20-30 people a week intend on using a weapon on board a plane?

I don't know what their point was, but mine would be this: those 20-30 people a week shouldn't be allowed to keep their guns. I support their right to ownership and carry, but they really should lose that right (or at least that firearm and a substantial sum of money) if they're so careless as to forget that they have a lethal device stuffed in a bag that they've just packed for a flight. That kind of stupidity and negligence gives careful gun owners a bad name.

Ownership of a firearm requires a certain level of responsibility. A concealed carry permit increases that quotient of responsibility substantially. In my mind, forgetting where you put your gun is basically inexcusable. There may well be the odd, vanishingly unlikely circumstance where one could plausibly excuse unintentionally carrying a firearm through airport security, but I can't think of it.

My bet is that most of these idiots knew they had their guns with them but thought they'd try it on anyway, reasoning that if they went home to drop it off, they'd miss their flight.

I suppose that "far-fetched" isn't the right word to use, rather that it's absurd that that many people per week forget that they have a potentially loaded gun in their bag and are carrying it into a high-security area where they know they should specifically not have guns.

If we assume that those people don't have any malintent, then they're just careless. And if they are that careless, they should get their firearms confiscated from them and they should be fined.