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Having prohibited stuff in your bags doesn’t just risk confiscation: You might be risking a TSA fine.:

Most passengers don’t realize that if they take banned items through airport security – knowingly or unknowingly – they could face as much as $10,000 in fines. Usually the threat is obvious, such as being caught with a loaded gun. But try to pass through metal detectors with a large pair of scissors and a bad attitude and you could be out as much as $1,500.

$1,500 for a pair of scissors? Yowza! The agency collected over $1.5 million last year, which really isn’t that much, considering how many items they confiscated.

The agency also admits that it fines people for “interference with screening” — both physical ($1,500 to $5,000 fine) and nonphysical ($500 to $1,500) interference. That latter category is ripe for abuse.

Perhaps more interestingly, the fines aren’t coming in proportionally from airports across the country. Phoenix, though only ranked 6th in terms of passenger traffic, was #1 in terms of fines collected.

The article suggests that the revenue is related to the number of gun owners in the state, but that doesn’t sound right to me. I’d bet that there is a bit of subjectivity involved: The person who’s apologetic and smiles a lot gets their gun confiscated but pays no fine, while the person who mouths off pays the big bucks. It’s much like talking your way out of parking ticket. And it seems the TSA agents in Phoenix are less likely to be sweet-talked.

So don’t say you weren’t warned that you could be fined. And go read the whole thing.

UPDATE: The TSA’s fines are in fact detailed on their website, but it takes some searching. The list of fines is here (PDF). And even better, the “Enforcement Sanction Guidance Policy” is here (MS Word). Be sure to check page 10 of the latter document, with its list of “aggravating factors,” such as “attitude of violator.”