The TSA discovered more than 6,600 guns at the airport last year. Most of it was loaded
Most of the firearms were found at checkpoints at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Scripps News
- Some international travelers and former US residents have avoided or minimized travel to the US due to concerns about gun violence.
- Several countries, including Canada and Australia, have issued travel advisories to citizens regarding the risk of gun violence in the United States
Christina Cooey left America due to gun violence. The 38-year-old, born in the Netherlands and moved to the US at the age of 10, eventually left the country in 2017 amid a school shooting.
“I couldn’t imagine having a child and sending it to a school in the US,” she told USA Today. She traveled internationally before returning to the country of the Netherlands. She travels every year to visit her parents in Ohio, but she is wary of too much time in the state.
Currently, there are two young children (2 and 4), so many firearms are a concern. “Because I’m back in the US or being there for a long time, I’m afraid of being in someone else’s home and grabbing a handgun from the bedside table of a benevolent neighbor,” she said.
Ohio’s gun laws that allow for permitted hidden carry also give her a pause. “I don’t like people I’ve been in Target or know that Walmart has guns in (their) pockets,” she said. Her Romanian husband feels the same way, she added.
It’s not just Kooi. Some travelers have minimized their time spent in the US or avoided it entirely because of gun violence or other fears of safety. This is why.
“Scary for us”
Sheryl Jessamin and her partner had planned to go on an RV trip down the Oregon coast in May, but they cancelled after President Donald Trump won the 2024 election. Alberta, Canada, was concerned about their safety as a federal government and same-sex couple targeting the LGBTQ community. There have also been reports of tourists being detained by immigration officers.
Gun violence was another factor. “It’s scary for us,” said Jessamin, 58. “I’m not saying that won’t happen here either, but it seems like at least more (US gun violence) is being debated in the media.”
Data from the National Travel and Tourism Office shows that there was about 1.8 million visitors from Canada in the first half of the year compared to 2024. This has driven in part by escalating political tensions between the US and Canada.
In September alone, the US has seen several famous shootings. The murder of conservative Utah activist Charlie Kirk and the same day the shooting at a school in Colorado took place.
They strengthened Jessamine’s emotions. “It didn’t help your cause, I’ll put it that way,” she said. “I didn’t want to cross the border again.”
They made a September trip to Mexico for their daughter’s 30th birthday. “She originally wanted to go to New York City, but we just can’t,” she said.
Are tourists avoiding the US?
Tourism Economics, which provides industry research, initially predicted growth of 10% this year. Their revised forecasts bring that figure down by 8.2%. Their July report attributes a declining trend to a mix of policy and rhetoric from the Trump administration that changed how potential travelers perceived coming.
“We need to be sensitive to that and reminders that travelers have options,” said Alan Ryan, director of tourism economics for industry research. “If they worry about where they’re going, they could move elsewhere, so I think they generally need to be more stable as a destination.”
International arrivals in the US fell 3% year-on-year as of June, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. Arrivals from overseas alone reduced by 1.2%.
A tourism economics report shows that a decline in international visitors will be the most noticeable in some cities near the border. Seattle lists a 26.9% decline from 2024 at 26.9%. Almost all of this stems from a visit to Canada.
Data on international visitors’ sentiment regarding gun violence is particularly rare. However, in a 2024 survey of 6,000 travelers in Southeast Asia, over 90% said that the prevalence of guns in the US had an impact on visiting decisions.
“Even so, 56% of the survey commissioned on CNBC Travel and conducted by market research firm Milieu Insight said they are likely to visit the US in the coming years,” the outlet reported. Of previous respondents who visited the country, “74% say they perceive gun violence as a bigger problem in the United States than they have in the past.”
The American Travel Association told USA Today that its regional analysis of international visits “shows that there are few notable outliers, with most major regions outside of North America tracking within a few percentage points of last year’s volume.”
How common is shooting in the US?
According to The Gun Violence Archive, there have been 302 mass shootings in the US in 2025 so far. The organization defines mass shootings that include four or more deaths except for the shooter as mass shootings. In 2024 there was 503, representing a decrease from 659 the previous year, but significantly higher than 332 in 2015.
A 2021 analysis by the University of Washington Health Assessment Institute found that the United States has relatively higher levels of gun violence compared to other high-income countries. In contrast, the number was 0.6 in Canada and 0.2 in the Netherlands.
Other countries have also warned of gun violence in travel guidance for US citizens.
“There’s a mass shooting outbreak and in most cases you’ll be a victim,” Canada said on its website. “Tourists rarely get involved, but there’s a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Others, such as Australia and the UK, have also mentioned “gun crimes” in their US travel advice.
Kooi and her family are planning to take nearly a month off on Camper Van’s trip next summer. Her dream was to travel to states in the western United States such as Arizona and Nevada, but her husband “feels really uncomfortable and unsafe,” she said. They go to Portugal and Spain instead.
For Jessamine and her family, a trip to Alaska is also in the air.
“We don’t want to spend travel dollars in the US right now. How we perceive what is important to the people of the US doesn’t necessarily mean who we are.”
Contribution: Eve Chen, USA Today
(This story was updated to update the headlines)
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel journalist for Nashville-based USA Today. You can contact him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
