TSA shows off items confiscated at Atlanta's airport ahead of Christmas travel season

TSA shares list of what not to bring through security over holidays

Getting through the TSA checkpoint can be especially difficult during this time of year. Here's a list of items not to bring through security, some may surprise you.

ATLANTA - TSA Regional Spokesman Mark Howell displayed some of the brass knuckles, collapsible batons, knives, power tools, pipes, wrenches, baseball bats, and other items that were confiscated at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during a news conference Monday.

His advice to air travelers this holiday season: "It's always good to start with an empty bag. Pack it from scratch. That way you can avoid bringing some of these things unintentionally through the security checkpoint."

Agents recover about a ton of prohibited items a month on average at security checkpoints that includes guns and ammunition.

Hundreds of guns are confiscated annually at the Atlanta airport. Howell said fewer firearms have been recovered so far this year.

"Five-hundred-seven guns come through the checkpoint in all of 2021," Howell said. "So far this year, we are at 433, since yesterday, so we are making some progress here in Atlanta in terms of bringing the number of guns into checkpoints down."

New signage at the airport serves as a reminder to travelers that they can't carry guns onto an aircraft.

"You see the new holograms they've added to the front of the checkpoint as well as kind of a visible deterrent and then we are just trying to press that message from our end and also with the airport."

You can find a complete list of prohibited items at TSA.org.

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