IF YOU are in line for airport security and the guy in front of you has a gun in his bag, there’s a good chance you are in Texas. Cowboys still exist, particularly in American airports. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reports in its 2015 year in review that last year shattered the record for firearms discovered in carry-on bags, with a total of 2,653. That’s more than seven per day. The overwhelming majority (83%) were loaded. The previous record was set in 2014, which topped the record set in 2013, which beat the record set in 2012…you get the idea. In fact, the number of guns found at American airport checkpoints has increased every year since 2007. It is an unsettling trend after a year marked by horrific mass shootings, particularly as the weapons that are detected are likely to be the tip of the iceberg. Last year, undercover TSA agents managed to smuggle concealed guns and bombs past security 96% of the time.

And where is the TSA finding all these guns? Mostly in the South, and particularly in Texas. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport had the most gun discoveries, followed by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. (Although given yesterday's bizarre tweet by Jeb Bush, a presidential hopeful and Mr Bush’s son, that might be a point of family pride, see right.) Also in the top ten were smaller airports in Dallas and Houston, as well as the international airport in Austin, Texas (see table). The TSA found thousands of other illegal items in passengers’ luggage. One checked bag in Richmond, Virginia, contained 2lbs (900g) of gunpowder and 600 bullets. Some passengers go to great lengths to conceal their weaponry, hollowing out a can of shaving cream to stash a knife, for instance, or hiding a blade in a statue of the Eiffel Tower. But these types of findings have grown sadly routine. More interesting, then, are some of the truly bizarre items uncovered by TSA agents.