But the rates at Miami and LAX trail far behind the small Greater Rockford airport in Illinois. It had a rate of 676 potential weapons per 1,000 originating passengers — the highest among U.S. airports with at least 1,000 passengers over the three-year period. In short, it reported more than one prohibited item for every two passengers.

The Deseret Morning News has a large chart available online (box chart at right) showing how many potential weapons — and what types — were seized at the 445 airports nationwide that reported confiscating at least one prohibited item during the three years examined. It also shows rates per passenger.

Despite confiscating 16 million prohibited items nationally in the three years, Harmon said the TSA initiated only 13,756 civil cases to seek fines against violators.

That means only one of about every 1,163 people who surrendered prohibited items faced civil penalties from TSA.

However, that does not count additional criminal charges that local police may have filed. Harmon said TSA does not have information about how many such cases may have been pursued nationally.

Locally, Barbara Gann, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, said city police made 61 arrests in that period of people trying to smuggle dangerous items on board. (That is about one arrest for every 3,100 items surrendered at Salt Lake International, and an arrest about every 2 1/2 weeks.)

Gann said only 12 of those arrested were taken to jail, while 49 were cited and released.

Morris added that locally, "when people are arrested, it's generally because they tried to artfully conceal something."

Harmon listed some of the more unusual, artfully concealed items that TSA agents have found nationally: a sword in a walking stick, a loaded gun in a teddy bear, a gun in a container that looked like a book, and a lipstick tube concealing a 3-inch knife blade.