Despite the heightened awareness since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks three years ago, thousands of potential weapons have still been seized at Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah, U.S.

Officials at checkpoints have confiscated 185,078 weapons during a 2 1/2-year period that ended in September, an average of about 190 a day, the Deseret Morning News reported in a copyright story in Monday editions.

Those figures indicate that, on average, one of every 73 passengers surrendered some sort of potential weapon.

Among the items confiscated were 75,000 knives, 157 firearms and 400 explosives, according to U.S. Transportation Security Administration data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Deseret Morning News. The records covered the period from February 2002 through September 2004.

With so many potential weapons discovered, the Salt Lake City Airport Police arrested only 63 people in that period for charges related to attempting to smuggle weapons through checkpoints, said Barbara Gann, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports.

That is only one arrest for about every 3,000 potential weapons surrendered.

Confiscated items are stored, and the General Services Administration collects them weekly.

Most are destroyed, but some are recycled.

Source: Agencies