Loaded Gun Falls Out Of Checked Bag. Feeling Secure At Airports Yet?
from the grope-grope-grope dept
It's always fun for me when Techdirt has stories about the TSA, but perhaps not for the same reasons as everyone else here. By that, I mean that the range of reaction to such stories always strikes me as incredibly varied. Get a story about the TSA working with the cosmopolitan state of Tennessee to check drivers for whatever it is they check for, and you'll get serious responses about our civil liberties being eroded. Write about these all-world defenders of truth and justice laying the smackdown on a possible-terrorist but confirmed breast cancer survivor and her mammory implants, and truly flabbergasted readers will demand action from our politicians. Relate the words of the guy that created the TSA to begin with and his apprehension about where the agency has gone in its off-broadway tour of security theatre, and you'll even get some folks defending the TSA in the comments. These are all well and good, true opinions and feelings from either side; the stirring of a wonderful national debate.Me? I just like to laugh. And no one has made me laugh lately like the TSA.
Gumnos alerts us (without a patdown, no less) to a USA Today story of how LAX's airport security is trying to define ironic comedy. At least, that's what I assume they're doing, because otherwise it means that some of their people may be in need of an IQ test. Look, no security is perfect. Something is going to sneak through occasionally. And we've been told the terrorists are creative, hiding exposives in their shoes (laces out, Dan), their underwear (I'm assuming they have to go with tighty-whities here, right? Or else everything would just kind of fall out?), and we've been told that the clearly deep-thinking and well-funded terrorist networks around the world are looking into hiding a multi-megaton nuclear warhead in a hair bonnet.
But what you don't expect to encounter is what happened at LAX. And that's for a loaded .38 caliber pistol to kind of just fall out of a passenger's duffel bag as it was being loaded onto the plane. Now, to be fair, the TSA promptly and proudly announced that it isn't their duty to screen anything but carryon luggage, as if this was some kind of a win for them. But all that makes me wonder is why a federal agency in charge of ensuring safe transportation is more concerned with slapping around our meaty bits than, oh I don't know, checking the damned luggage that goes on the plane! Again, this is not carryon luggage, but rather checked luggage. But how does it make any sense to parse out different sets of luggage to be checked by different agencies with potentially different equipment and...You know what? I'm not going to try to make sense of this for fear of a complete mental breakdown.
Still, I'm all about the positivity, which is why I pictured myself standing in line, waiting to board the plane (why am I always in Group D, damn it?) and watching the baggage handlers out the window lovingly slam my stuff into the luggage compartment, when a loaded .38 pistol comes spinning out of the bag and lands on the tarmac. After a moment of watching the handlers stare dumbly at each other for a moment, I burst out laughing, pointing at the gun, then back at the airline employees, then off in the distance where some TSA agent is playing puppet with a 98 year old triple amputee (try figuring that one out), then back at the gun. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat.
So take a moment to thank the TSA for all the laughs.
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To quote Hitchhikers's Guide:
So sad that it has come to this!
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It gets worse (if that's even possible)
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This is halfway as it should be
Now, to fulfill some more safety rules, of course the gun shouldn't have been loaded, and probably taken halfway apart. But the gun should absolutely go into the checked luggage.
Also, who packs their luggage so bad that things start falling out in handling?
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I disagree, I think they share guilt. Yes the weapon should have been unloaded, but shouldn't the airline be responsible for verifying that the weapon was unloaded before loading it on a passenger airplane?
If the airline is not verifying if a weapon is loaded/unloaded before putting it on an airplane, they have no business fondling my banana hammock before putting me on an airplane....
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Re: Re: This is halfway as it should be
If this got through, what's to say something a little more explosive can't go the same route?
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An unloaded gun in checked baggage is less dangerous than a Snuggie wrapped around grandma in coach.
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That reminds me... I've been meaning to pick up a new pistol. Shouldn't take more than an hour. I could take a long lunch and even break it in at the range before I come home... that minty fresh taste of freedom makes me smile.
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Re: Re: This is halfway as it should be
Enjoy the taste while it lasts because it is going away fast. It is a sad time we live in when people are giving up their rights without so much as a squeak. I am sure the founding fathers were worried about our rights being taken away but I wonder if the thought ever crossed their mind that we would be gladly giving them up one day?
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Oregon doesn't have the crime issue that California supposedly does (I'm from rural North California, so I didn't really see that, it's a different California than the one the rest of the country hears about), so I understand the more lax (HAHA!) views on the matter. But, being somewhat of a libertarian, this matter could be resolved without any actual legislation. The courts have proven willing to hold manufacturers potentially liable for their products. If gun sellers had a similar responsibility to the public, as they should, they would jump through the hoops willingly to make sure thier customers were legit.
Wow...off topic.
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Loaded?
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You Know, I Do Feel Safer Now
Also, this happens to be the one loaded weapon (out of how many?) to accidentally fall out of luggage. I'm not saying they're letting through 90 wt% loaded armaments, but if the TSA isn't involved than you don't even get a show.
Lastly, if it "isn't the duty" of the TSA to screen checked bags, why do they insist on letting us all know they were rutting around in them with a little plastic tag where our crippled locks used to be? I can take that as a sort of dark punchline to an otherwise dark joke, but this is one of those moments where I have to question the directors motives in changing up the theatrics.
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Re: You Know, I Do Feel Safer Now
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Firearm Transportation
Loaded and bouncing around in a duffel bag? Fail by all parties.
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Re: Firearm Transportation
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Agency A: Guns must be locked, unloaded, in checked luggage!
Agency B: Locked ANYTHING in your luggage means you're a terrorist!
Ya know, that sort of thing.
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Re: Re: Firearm Transportation
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haplophobia
I see nothing wrong with a checked bag containing an unloaded gun. What's it gonna do, bluff the other suitcases into handing over their jewels?
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"And no one has made me laugh lately like the TSA."
This "dark humor" piece falls flat, as usual. It's difficult NOT to suspect that /you're/ giving your actual reaction.
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Re: "And no one has made me laugh lately like the TSA."
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Re: "And no one has made me laugh lately like the TSA."
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Re: "And no one has made me laugh lately like the TSA."
Making up a new use for slashes does not make you seem less stupid then using caps all the time. Do the books your read highlight the important words in sentence? Are they reading primers for 4th graders? Write your sentences well and have a clear point and the reader will understand the important words. Rambling morons are the only people who need to add emphasis to individual words.
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The "loaded" part is the fault of the gun owner. Transporting a weapon should be done in a secure manner, and any failure to do so goes back to the gun owner.
It is also clear that the gun was in checked baggage, and not a carry on. While I know you (and many others) want to stick it to the TSA every chance you get, please understand that a gun in checked baggage is less dangerous than even the smallest of weapons in the hands of a flier on the plane.
I get your outrage, but I think it is very misdirected here. Call out the stupid flier for not clearing his gun and not properly securing it in his checked luggage, don't call out the TSA for somehow not being clairvoyant.
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The flier is indeed an idiot and should be held accountable, but they weapons should have never made it onto the luggage cart loaded as it was.
I think just taking the weapon owners word that a firearm is unloaded without a visual verification from a qualified TSA or airline representative is a HUGE failure in security.
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Okay, outside of clairvoyance or magic, exactly how is the TSA suppose to know if a gun is loaded or not, especially when it is being transported legally in checked luggage? I don't think people even have to declare the fire arm if it is in checked luggage, do they? If they do, wouldn't it be the responsibility of the counter agent checking the bags in to assure this before the flyer is separated from their luggage?
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By inspecting it at check in and tagging it unloaded, just like they are supposed to do?
"If they do, wouldn't it be the responsibility of the counter agent checking the bags in to assure this before the flyer is separated from their luggage?"
Yes, they have to declare it, and yes the guy checking in the bag should be making sure it's unloaded, or if they can't, finding an agent that can. That's why i said "visual verification from a qualified TSA or airline representative"
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Well, thanks for the compliment. Now let's see if I can explain my "anger".
"The "loaded" part is the fault of the gun owner. Transporting a weapon should be done in a secure manner, and any failure to do so goes back to the gun owner."
Let's take that train of thought to its logical, if absurd, conclusion. The 3000 deaths on 9/11 were the fault of Al Quaeda, not the federal govt. that failed to protect us, so we should only blame Islamic extremists, not the CIA/FBI/etc. But that doesn't make sense. The whole point of the TSA is to protect flights, and a loaded weapon loose in luggage is a security issue they failed to address, possibly because they were too busy counting the number of curlies on my coin-purse.
"It is also clear that the gun was in checked baggage, and not a carry on. While I know you (and many others) want to stick it to the TSA every chance you get, please understand that a gun in checked baggage is less dangerous than even the smallest of weapons in the hands of a flier on the plane."
Here is where it's important to realize that not every plane that flies out of major airports like LAX are jumbo 747's that most folks are used to. There are several plane models still in commission which have floor access to baggage compartments. This is particularly true of flights that allow pet transportation, in which luggage compartments are not fully pressurized for fear of Fido turning into a big pile of dead. In other words, there are cases where a passenger overpowering the stewardess crew chief could access luggage. Not likely, but then neither was a series of planes flying into the WTC and all that.
"I get your outrage, but I think it is very misdirected here. Call out the stupid flier for not clearing his gun and not properly securing it in his checked luggage, don't call out the TSA for somehow not being clairvoyant."
We can disagree, and I respect that, but this isn't a matter of clairvoyance. It's simply a matter of the TSA wearing the security mantle so that they can slap my nuts around and then falling back on the "WE DON'T CHECK CHECKED BAGGAGE" excuse when this bullshit happens.
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Call me uninformed, but I thought that all modern planes had access to the baggage compartment in case of emergencies.
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TSA is responsible
The gun falling out does not meet the shipping requirements for transporting a weapon, but it is perfectly legal to have an unloaded weapon in the baggage compartment.
The TSA messes up so much. I think we should focus on the things that matter. If we scream about the petty things it makes the screams about the true injustices more easily ignored.
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You're welcome. It's part of my secret plot to take over the world through your particular dispeasure. Glad it's working....
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Also I'm wondering what kind of firearm it was and if there was a round in the chamber if semi-automatic. If there wasn't a round in the chamber, there's essentially a 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% chance of a round firing when the gun is dropped to the ground because it would require racking the slide first, and that's nearly impossible to do without human intending to do it.
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Sounds like the TSA is trying to play security by only watching the main entrance while the back door is unlocked and wide open. Have they considered it only takes someone throwing a make-up kit with a tag onto a checked luggage cart to get what they want on any plane? Hell, they just have to work at the pizza hut inside the airport for a few months to grow familiarity with their face, and they can "get lost" anywhere they want. Whatever, it's only like gravity, it only exists if you believe it.
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Go back to Texas you Republitard!
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I can say with a decent amount of certainty that there is not a lot of training on handling firearms in checked baggage.
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And you can prod a sleeping bear - without it even moving for a while.. but eventually, it'll wake up - and when it does.. it'll be pissed.
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Firearms are allowed on planes, albeit not in this way.
In order to bring a firearm onto a plane, the firearm must be:
1. Unloaded, which included, most annoyingly, removing all ammunition from the firearm's magazine(s).
2. The firearm(s), ammunition, and magazine(s) must all be locked in a secured container. This container must be loaded into the passenger's checked luggage. The passenger has to, stupidly, open the container, allow for inspection, the lock the container.
The passenger, not the airline, nor some governmental agent, must maintain the key, or other entry device. Also, the luggage cannot be marked to notate that a firearm is held within, for obvious reasons. I have found the cases I carry my rifles and/or handguns in pried at, but never fully opened, thanks to the wonderful engineering of the manufacturer of my firearm cases.
3. The firearm must be declared at the checked luggage counter. If this step is missed or avoided, this can cause problems for the passenger.
4. No more than fifty(50) round of ammunition can be carried onto the plane. This is really irritating, as this means that I have to pay a lot of money for 500 to 2,000 round of ammunition wherever I ended up traveling to. This gets expensive, as there is not always a police supply, or other discount ammunition outlet where I am traveling to.
Other rules will depend on the airline you are traveling with. I have run into many stupid people that give me a "what do we do with this?" look when I go to check my firearm(s). I even run into, on rare occasions, where these idiots will want to removed my firearm(s), in view of everyone, to "check" the firearm(s), which they are unable to successfully maneuver.
If my traveling were not so important, I wouldn't do it. The only problem is that those classes will not teach themselves.
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Last time I went thru LAX they were piss poor all round, with more people standing around with vacant looks in there eyes and one poor bastard checking everyone's passport with people queuing back for 90 minutes.
That'll serve me right for flying on a tuesday morning when its quiet.
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