Houston Police Patrolling Area Airports with Rifles

Houston police officers are carrying patrol rifles at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports this holiday season, the latest security enhancement as airports nationwide upgrade their security.

"We just want to be able to match, hopefully, whoever is coming in with the threat of violence," said Capt. Glenn Yorek with Houston Police Department's airport division at Bush Intercontinental.

Local officers aren't responding to a specific known threat, Yorek emphasized. Some officers keep these weapons in their vehicles. Openly carrying them is a precaution as roughly 1.23 million people will pass through Houston's commercial airports during the 10-day Thanksgiving travel period, the Houston Chronicle reports.