Irish Airport Security Bravely Defends Plane From Toddler's Fart-Gun
from the heroes dept
Here at Techdirt, we've had a great deal of fun at the expense of the TSA and the agency's wonderful brand of security theater masquerading as actual airport security. Yes, the government putting on a kind of clinic in the simultaneous overreach into civil liberties for false security and the kind of wasteful government spending that makes the conservative talkshow hosts of the world dip back into the Oxy has been an ongoing source of entertainment. But the TSA can take the same kind of heart that thousands of purported UFO abductees do: you are not alone.No, as it turns out, foreign airport security agencies can be just as laughable as we can be. Witness the Irish, for instance, and the way they bravely disarmed a three year old of a toy fart-gun.
Can't believe that a minion fart gun was taken from friends toddler, security felt it posed a threat @UniversalPics pic.twitter.com/iAPLlmdTv3 — Paula (@NursepollyRgn) August 16, 2015
As Paula pointed out, this is a replica of the "Fart Blaster" wielded by the minions in "Despicable Me." So I guess it does have a track record of being used for evil purposes. But in real life it doesn't do anything except make noise and apparently emit an odor that thankfully is said to be banana-scented. Do I want a kid to wield one of these on a plane? No. Does it need to be confiscated by security personnel? No.
Well, I do want a kid wielding one of these delightful toys on an airplane, sirs. The very idea of a three year old tumbling down the aisle spraying a bunch of uptight, too-stiff adults with insufficient senses of humor in the face with banana-farts is exactly the kind of life, liberty and happiness no government ought be denying my right to pursue. What's far less funny - kind of - was the Irish authorities' insistence that they confiscated the "weapon" because it violated the rules against replica guns. Replica guns typically refer to realistic representations of actual firearms that don't work. The fart gun is not a representation of a real gun at all. And it most certainly works as intended.
The spokesperson noted that the toy was "being kept safe at the airport" so the child can get it back when the family returns, so that's nice.It's not nice; it's exceptionally stupid. The Irish authorities are sitting on a children's toy that they absolutely know is not a weapon over a ham-fisted attempt to play by bureaucratic rules. I think it's time these lads went and had a Guinness and let the kid have his toy back.
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Filed Under: airport security, fart gun, ireland, minions, security theater, tsa
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I don't. But the reason has nothing to do with the fact that it's vaguely gun-shaped. It makes noise and scents, in an environment where people are trapped for several hours. (Perhaps so does the 3 year old, but he's got a reason to be there, and such things may tend to be cumulative.)
Just put the thing in the luggage - the carry-on is fine, as long as they leave it there - and that should be the end of it.
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Putting children in carry-on luggage is frowned upon in most countries.
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Yup. This right here is what happens when you take critical thinking out of the equation.
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What took you so long? Last week's story.
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Seriously, you've been crapping over this site for years and you still haven't worked out that it's an opinion blog based on external stories that may be days, even weeks old? Mind you, it has taken you this long to correctly identify the name of the author you're attacking on each story, so maybe you are just that slow.
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Toy Guns and Security
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That right there is the difference. For all the TSA's errors this shows a sliver of intelligence. A small sliver admittedly but still a sliver.
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What I've learned is that it's best to put them in a separate bag, and *not* remove them for screening.
The one time I opted to remove them from the bag and put them in the plastic bins was the one time I had a HELL of a time getting through security. It started with several additional travelers commenting about them, and then the TSA telling me they highly discourage toy guns as carry-on.
This was not the first time, nor the last time I took them through security - but every time I left them in the bag, there was no fuss. There have been a couple occasions where the Xray guy pulled the bag aside to look inside, but this lasted a few seconds and once he was satisfied, the bag continued with no further distraction.
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The toy is not a replica and therefore is not banned...except that it was banned anyway.
For comparison, THIS is a replica firearm:
http://www.collectorsarmoury.com/images/22-1024m.jpg
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Yup. It looks like something you'd see a cartoon character brandishing, and some cartoon characters brandished guns that looked far more realistic (until it stuck out a flag that said "Bang!" on it).
I'd fire them for getting this so ridiculously wrong, a six year old kid would fire them for getting it so wrong, but to these true believer security theatre types, their response is perfectly reasonable, because "national security." Theirs is the same mentality that gets you thrown in jail for even mentioning the word "bomb" in an airport, and irradiates or sexually molests babies and octogenarians.
Our job is to smile, shut up, accept it, and hope we don't get dumped onto the no-fly list at the whim of some minor functionary. Seig heil.
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Did the Irish just admit that their military has a real-life fart gun?
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But it's sooooooo hard!
You can't expect bureaucrats to make these hard distinctions.
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Threat assessment
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Storage fee
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