Most people know that the line at the checkpoint isn’t the place for comedy. The warnings are on signs, in announcements and all over travel advice. Still, officers keep hearing the same few phrases, and the results are rarely good for the person who said them.
The three below come up again and again in TSA material, news coverage and legal commentary. They differ in tone, but they share one problem: they hand a security officer a reason to slow down, call someone over, or involve the police.
Any Joke About a Bomb
TSA has long played a warning in airports around the country. It says jokes or statements about bombs or threats during screening may bring civil and criminal penalties and could make you miss your flight.[1] An academic study of checkpoint culture also noted that people keep getting arrested for jokes about bombs, anthrax and security policy despite the warning.[1] TSA’s own list of don’ts, as relayed by Yahoo, adds that a bomb joke should make you expect a visit from local police.[2]
The examples on a TSA blog, summarized by Network World, show how quickly things escalate. One traveler told a ticket agent her bag held a bomb, and the ticket counter, checkpoint and terminal were closed for nearly an hour, though the bag turned out to be harmless.[3] Another told a gate agent she had an atomic bomb in her bag and then had to explain to airport police, the FBI and TSA that she was joking.[3] Even hypothetical phrasing made the list, such as a passenger who said he didn’t have a bomb in his bag but could have.[3]
I Forgot That Was in There
This one usually comes after something real has shown up on the X-ray screen. TSA reported that officers intercepted 6,678 firearms at checkpoints in 2024, and roughly 94 percent of them were loaded.[4] A criminal defense firm that handles these cases says many of those travelers simply forgot the gun was in their bag.[5] That may well be true, but the explanation doesn’t change what happens next.
When a firearm is found, a TSA officer immediately calls local law enforcement, who may arrest or cite the traveler depending on local laws.[4] On top of that, TSA says the traveler faces a civil penalty and loses TSA PreCheck eligibility for at least five years.[4] Forbes reported that TSA levied nearly 23 million dollars in civil penalties against travelers caught with guns in 2024, a record,[6] and that the minimum fine for a loaded gun is 3,000 dollars.[6] The legal route is straightforward: the firearm must be unloaded, locked in a hard case, declared to the airline and packed in checked baggage.[6]
Just Take This, Nobody Will See
Offering an officer a gift, a snack or a little something for their trouble may feel like ordinary politeness. In a Reader’s Digest piece, a TSA officer explained that officers aren’t allowed to accept anything free from anyone in the airport, including vendors, because it can look like a bribe.[7] The same officer pointed out that cameras cover every part of the checkpoint,[7] so the idea that nobody will notice doesn’t hold up.
Pushing the point can make it worse. Insisting, or trying to press the item into an officer’s hands, can even prompt a call to a supervisor.[7] The words that actually help at a checkpoint are practical ones. TSA advises travelers to tell the officer at the start of screening about medically necessary liquids,[8] and to ask for a supervisor or passenger support specialist if they have concerns about their screening.[9]
