The TSA Blog: TSA Week in Review: 15 Tubes of Black Powder Discovered at Denver
TSA finds 30 guns in passenger luggage in a week's time. Three of the 30 were not loaded. At first you might think that the TSA is should be commended for finding these weapons. BUT, think about a few things:
- How many guns go onto airplanes that are not found by TSA each week. If they found 30, we know their margin of error is not 0%, so how many do they miss?
- If 30 firearms are found in one week by TSA, then how many would that be if they found 30 every week? Answer: 1,560. That's a lot of guns. Out of those 1,560 guns
- 1,560 guns per year would be found at this rate. If people were carrying guns, solely with malicious intent, don't you think more people would be getting shot on planes or at the airport? I haven't heard many stories of ACTUAL violence occurring in airports. You would think that with all of these "dangerous weapons" that are being found, surely there are many more terrorists than we thought...Right?
- It is lawful to carry a gun on a plane if first you consult the airline. The TSA even provides a link for those who want to check a firearm for travel. Coincidentally the link was not functional when I attempted to use it.
- I haven't heard of ANY successful attacks recently that would warrant these 30 gun retrievals anything, but a waste of tax dollars. Show me the threat. I cannot see it. I will not accept that the TSA is stopping 100% of the threats before they occur. It's just not logical.
The TSA can take
"Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also regularly find firearm components, realistic replica firearms, bb and pellet guns, Airsoft guns, brass knuckles, ammunition, batons, and a lot of sharp pointy things -- to mention a few…" Bob Burns, TSA Blog Team
"Sharp Pointy things" sounds very specific. Should a woman refrain from wearing earrings on a flight? I can understand objects with a sole purpose or a functionality that is intended to cause harm, but with all things considered, it is the people that are the danger, not the object. People are all capable of committing acts of violence. So should we just lock ourselves up before we commit any crimes?
