With nearly two months left in the year, airport security agents have already confiscated 1,855 firearms from passengers – more than in all of 2013.

The Transportation Security Administration said 1,471 of those guns and rifles were loaded, with the greatest number found at Dallas/Fort Worth, Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta, Phoenix Sky Harbor and Houston George Bush international airports.

The 1,855 firearms were among 3,084 weapons, firearm components, stun guns, replica firearms and inert explosive material uncovered so far this year, the TSA said.

TSA officials declined to attribute a reason for the increase in guns but noted the number of firearms found at airports has risen steadily since 2005, when 606 were uncovered.

One factor in the increase may be the rise in passenger volume, which grew 2.3 percent in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2013, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

TSA agents do not have the power to cite or arrest passengers and instead notify local police when a weapon is uncovered. Arrests occur in about 20 percent of the cases, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Among the most recent weapons uncovered by the TSA were an inert hand grenade in Atlanta, a sword cane in Charlotte, N.C., a .357 magnum revolver in Orlando, Fla., and a cannon barrel in Kahului, Hawaii.