Getting caught with a prohibited item at airport screening can cost you up to $17,062 per violation, and TSA civil penalties for prohibited items are separate from any criminal charges that follow. A loaded firearm in a carry-on starts at $3,000 for a first offense. Knives, stun guns, flammable liquids, and similar items generally run $450 to $2,570. The exact fine depends on what was found, whether you tried to hide it, and whether you’ve been through this before.
Fine Ranges by Item
TSA’s Enforcement Sanction Guidance Policy, updated January 24, 2025, sets the ranges below. They apply to items discovered at a checkpoint, in a sterile area, or onboard an aircraft.
Firearms
Firearms draw the steepest penalties of any commonly encountered item, and every firearm discovery also generates a criminal referral to local law enforcement, loaded or not.
- Loaded firearm, or unloaded with accessible ammunition, first offense: $3,000 to $12,210.
- Loaded firearm, or unloaded with accessible ammunition, repeat offense: $12,210 to $17,062.
- Unloaded firearm with no accessible ammunition: $1,500 to $6,130.
The civil fine from TSA sits on top of any state or local charges.
Explosives and Incendiary Devices
High explosives such as dynamite, blasting caps, plastic explosives, and hand grenades carry the top range of $10,230 to $17,062, plus a criminal referral. Consumer fireworks, flares, and small quantities of gunpowder (10 ounces or less) fall in the $450 to $2,570 range. Realistic replicas and inert grenades run $850 to $4,250 with a criminal referral.
Sharp Objects and Other Weapons
Knives with automatically or gravity-opening blades (at any length), double-edged knives, machetes, swords, and throwing stars sit in the $450 to $2,570 range. A first-time violation with one of these items may draw a warning notice instead of a fine, but a second violation will cost you. Stun guns, tasers, BB guns, pellet guns, and realistic firearm replicas share the same $450 to $2,570 range. Firearm silencers and receivers are treated more seriously at $850 to $1,700 with a criminal referral.
Flammables and Other Restricted Items
Flammable liquids and gels such as gasoline, lighter fluid, and paint thinner run $450 to $2,570. Self-defense sprays and tear gas fall in the same band. Anything not specifically listed in the guidance is subject to the full regulatory maximum of $17,062.
How TSA Decides Where in the Range You Land
The ranges are floors and ceilings. Cooperation with screeners, a clean travel history, and a straightforward set of facts push toward the low end. Repeat violations, disruptive behavior, and attempts to hide the item push toward the top.
Artful Concealment Adds a Separate Penalty
Deliberately hiding a prohibited item triggers its own fine on top of the base penalty for the item. TSA distinguishes ordinary from extraordinary concealment:
- Ordinary concealment of sharp objects, such as cane swords or lipstick and pen knives: $600 to $2,570.
- Ordinary concealment of firearms, such as pen guns or cell phone guns: $4,950 to $12,210.
- Extraordinary concealment, such as a firearm wrapped in foil or hidden in a hollowed-out book: $6,070 to $12,210.
Multiple prohibited items in one bag mean cumulative fines. A traveler who hides a loaded firearm can be charged the concealment penalty and the firearm penalty together.
The Overall Cap
The regulatory ceiling is $17,062 per violation for an individual, with a $100,000 cap per civil penalty action. These figures were last adjusted in December 2025 and are updated periodically for inflation.
What Actually Triggers a Violation
Federal rules bar weapons, explosives, and incendiary devices on your person or in accessible property once screening begins, inside a sterile area, or when boarding a plane. Interfering with screening personnel, whether by physical resistance, threats, or intimidation, is a separate violation.
Intent doesn’t matter. Forgetting a pocket knife in a jacket or leaving loose ammunition in a backpack is enough. Some items banned from carry-ons are fine in checked luggage if properly declared and packaged; the violation occurs the moment the item is presented at screening.
The Notice of Violation and Your 30-Day Window
After screening, the case goes to TSA’s regulatory division. If the agency finds a violation, you receive a Notice of Violation identifying the regulation and proposing a civil penalty. This is an administrative action, not a criminal charge, and it runs on its own track separate from any state or local prosecution.
You have 30 days to respond. That deadline is not decorative. Ignore it and TSA can proceed to a final order and start collection without hearing from you again.
Ways to Resolve the Case
The response sheet with your Notice lays out several paths. Which one makes sense depends on the strength of your case and how hard you want to push back.
Pay in Full
Paying closes the case. TSA takes payment online or by mail.
Request an Informal Conference
An informal conference is a meeting with a TSA official where you present your side, explain mitigating circumstances, and try to negotiate the fine down. You can bring a lawyer, but many travelers handle it on their own. This is where most contested cases start.
Compromise Order vs. Consent Order
Before a final penalty assessment, you and TSA can settle by compromise order or consent order. The distinction matters. A compromise order resolves the case with a negotiated payment and no finding that you violated the law, and it can’t be used as a prior violation against you later. A consent order includes an admission and waives your appeal rights. If you can get a compromise order, take it, especially if you’re worried about being treated as a repeat offender down the road.
Formal Hearing
If informal talks don’t work, you can request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Both sides present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The Federal Rules of Evidence guide the process but aren’t binding. This adds significant time and cost, and for smaller fines the legal fees can exceed the penalty itself.
Appealing a Final Order
If TSA issues a final order you still disagree with, you can file a petition to reconsider or modify within 30 days, which automatically stays the order while TSA reviews it. Beyond that, you can seek judicial review in a U.S. Court of Appeals, filed in either the D.C. Circuit or the circuit where you live, within 60 days of the final order. Courts generally defer to the agency’s factual findings.
What Happens Beyond the Fine
If You Don’t Pay
Unpaid TSA penalties enter federal collection once the deadline passes. TSA has confirmed that unpaid fines are pulled from federal tax refunds through the Treasury Offset Program. If there’s no refund to intercept, the agency can go after other assets, and eventually refer the case to the U.S. Attorney General for a collection lawsuit in federal district court.
You Can Lose TSA PreCheck
A violation can cost you eligibility for expedited screening programs including TSA PreCheck. Suspension can run up to five years for a first-time violation involving a firearm or other dangerous item. Repeat or particularly serious incidents can result in permanent disqualification. Reinstatement is not automatic; you have to reapply and pass a fresh background check.
Criminal Charges Run on a Separate Track
The TSA fine is regulatory. The same incident often generates a criminal referral to local law enforcement, and every firearm discovery does. Many states treat carrying a firearm into a secured airport area as a criminal offense with its own fines, possible jail time, and a permanent record. The two cases are independent: beating the criminal charge doesn’t cancel the TSA fine, and paying the TSA fine doesn’t end the criminal case.