I know very little about gun safety (don't own them) so I claim ignorance in the topic.
I was addressing the GP who said "you don't understand people don't transport loaded guns in their bag" when the article specifically said "83% of guns found in carry on bags were loaded." Which means people are clearly doing it.
I don't know the specifics of the safety of such a practice but I took GPs word on the topic that said practice was unsafe (or inadvisable).
A properly manufactured and maintained gun of "modern design" (which includes, for example, the 1911 as in that was the year the US Army adopted it), if its control surfaces (safety, trigger) are secured by a proper holster or the like, is pretty much not going to fire as long as you keep it away from a fire or a MRI's very strong magnet.
Still, if your loaded gun is being discovered by the TSA in this fashion, you're violating Rule 2 of gun safety (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper#Firearms_safety) and of course you might not know until it's too late that your gun has a manufacturing flaw, you screwed up maintaining it, and there are no doubt many old guns out there with marginal designs.
I was addressing the GP who said "you don't understand people don't transport loaded guns in their bag" when the article specifically said "83% of guns found in carry on bags were loaded." Which means people are clearly doing it.
I don't know the specifics of the safety of such a practice but I took GPs word on the topic that said practice was unsafe (or inadvisable).