To begin, I will try to make this as objective as possible.

If we have found 2150 firearms in 3 years, that is about 717 firearms per year. In FY 2004, the TSA budget was $4.4 billion. We can subtract the $385 million spent for cargo and we see the budget for passengers was about $4 billion. The TSA receives roughly 49% of its budget from passenger fees. Therefore, for every weapon found in FY 2004:

The taxpayers of the United States of America paid $2,845,188.22 for every ONE firearm found.
The civilian passengers paid $2,733,612.27 for every ONE firearm found.

I have left out the innumerable tweezers, fingernail clippers, bookmarks, sewing needles, and butter knives that have been confiscated at checkpoints, making us infinitely safer.

What a bargain!!

All facts are from the TSA website, I can provide a link to a .ppt presentation.