( CNN ) -- A deadly shooting at a checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport emphasizes airport security vulnerabilities , according to analysts and a union chief . A gunman opened fire on Friday at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at LAX , killing a TSA officer . The suspect was eventually shot and taken into custody , police said . The slain officer was the first TSA employee killed in the line of duty , according to J. David Cox Sr , president of the American Federation of Government Employees , a union that represents many TSA workers . The TSA 's checkpoint officers are not law enforcement and are not armed . While Friday 's tragedy was a first , `` assaults of officers occur on a daily basis , '' said Cox , in a telephone conference call . Asked what could be done to improve security at the airport , Cox said he would like `` our officers to be able to make arrests . That would be a big improvement if they had arrest power . '' Instead , they have to turn to local law enforcement when assaulted . Even with the most highly trained TSA officers , some incidents ca n't be prevented , said Richard Bloom , director of terrorism , intelligence and security studies at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University . If security officials choose to focus on terrorism in a post-9/11 world , `` other threats to security may not be attended to as much as they should be , '' he said . Bloom suggested that training and better pay would go a long way in developing more sophisticated security . `` Are they paid as much as they should be , trained appropriately and recognized and rewarded for doing a good job ? '' he asked . `` Do you want a highly paid security and intelligence officer or a rent-a-cop ? '' American airports are not prepared for violence on the ground , said Rafi Ron , president of Virginia-based New Age Security Solutions . Most of the measures taken since 9/11 are aimed at protecting aircraft from attack . `` In the United States , we do n't have vehicle checkpoints and we do n't have people watching who comes into the terminals and the presence of armed personnel is very , very thin , '' said Ron , a former head of security of Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv , Israel . Vehicles driving into Ben-Gurion Airport must clear a vehicle checkpoint , and there are security personnel at all terminal entrances , he said . `` It would be almost impossible to walk into the terminal with a gun . If he started shooting , he would probably be dead in a matter of seconds because of the heavy presence of security personnel . '' The gunman on Friday approached a checkpoint at Terminal 3 at 9:20 a.m. and began shooting at the TSA employee , according to an ex-LAPD officer who happened to be at the scene . The shooting was not the first at the airport . In 2002 , an Egyptian national killed two people and wounded four others at the ticket counter of Israel 's El Al Airlines before a security guard shot and killed him . Despite these violent incidents , unauthorized guns at the airport are often discovered in passenger carry-on bags as they pass through checkpoints . The TSA screens about 1.8 million passengers every day . The total number of guns seized by the TSA at airports around the country has been on the rise since 2007 . The agency seized 1,556 guns in 2012 , nearly double the 803 guns confiscated in 2007 , according to agency figures . In 2013 , the agency seized 1,343 guns through the end of September , 13 of which were confiscated at LAX . The Los Angeles airport is the sixth busiest in the world based on total passengers ( 63.7 million in 2012 ) , according to Airports Council International .
TSA seized 1,556 guns in 2012 , nearly double the amount in 2007 . Gunman opens fire Friday at Los Angeles International Airport . Comment: