Posted on 03/18/2012 9:19:24 PM PDT by marktwain
Most airline passengers pack a toothbrush and fresh underwear in their luggage, while others carry land mines, grenade launchers, swords and mortar shells.
Not only does the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confiscate four handguns a day among the contraband it takes from airline customers, its agents once seized a stun gun concealed as lipstick and found a dagger hidden inside a hairbrush, according to weekly updates on The TSA blog.
"If I'm going with the weirdest, it would have to be the guy who had all the snakes in his pants," recalled Bob Burns, 41, who writes online for the agency as Blogger Bob.
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Some of the deadly weapons are a real threat to airline safety, he said, but in other cases it's simply a matter of cluelessness. "The first incident occurred at the Miami International Airport (MIA) and involved a gentleman with seven small snakes in his pants ..." Burns wrote in August 2011.
"The passenger was arrested on the federal charge of 'harboring reptiles in an unnatural habitat.' I made that up ... the individual was actually charged with violating the Lacey Act," the blog said, referring to the law that combats trafficking in illegal wildlife, fish and plants.
Chainsaw Not a Problem, But Gas – That's Another Story In a post last month about a western New York airport, he wrote, "Believe it or not, the chainsaw found at Elmira (ELM) was not the problem here. You can travel with your chainsaw as checked luggage, however, gassing it up is the problem. You know... Gas? Highly flammable liquid."
(Excerpt) Read more at thefiscaltimes.com ...
The article implies that it is simply illegal to do so.
/johnny
Like NY.
I take my handgun every time I fly. I know the procedure, have the correct case, limit it to one (which is the hard part) and have it unloaded. I also pull the slide back and lock it to make it easier to see that it is empty.
I have never had an issue with transporting guns other than once another passenger screamed “she has a gun!” when I was checking my baggage and showing it was unloaded in my suitcase. Security came running, laughed and explained to the freaked out liberal (she had to be) that it was fine and perfectly legal.
And I won't go to states without liberty based gun laws.
/johnny
“I have never had an issue with transporting guns other than once another passenger screamed “she has a gun!”
LOL, I wish I was there to laugh at the libtard. When I came from the Philippines on a biz trip, a lot of my Filipino friends asked me to buy the “balisong” (Filipino switchblade) and had it encased, and the lady beside me looked at me like I was going to hijack the plane.
Sadly, I have to travel by air twice a year. Once to come home after taking my mother out to her winter home and once to go back to get her and drive her home.
The state I live in has reciprocity with 28 states for CCW and we stick to states that have the reciprocity and avoid states that have bad gun laws.
I don’t like flying, but my mother CANNOT physically fly and I don’t like her driving alone.
I wish I could have my firearm, even unloaded in the cabin. I hate that is has to go with luggage. When I travel, we stick to states I can carry and my CCW never leaves my body. I carry on my person, not in my purse. My gun, my responsibility.
Mine can't either now that she's in her 80s but you should have
seen her soar on the wind when she was younger!
;^) Sorry, couldn't help it.
Got that right. Flight-free since Nov 2001.
Lately, however, I have noticed a disturbing trend in the way TSA requires handguns to be handled, one that I fear will greatly increase the incidence of theft or mishandling.
First, it has always been my understanding that part of the rules for checking firearms has been that you, the passenger, are the only person with a key to the locked container. Lately, the TSA is recommending TSA "locks" for these containers (at my airport - CVG - at least) which seems patently illegal. In that case, it is not only me, but tens of thousands of TSA agents - many of questionable character, who have the key to my locked container.
In addition, rather than screening the firearms in front of me, which also used to be a requirement, there has been a move to screen them in an area passengers do not have access to. So, they either need to take possession of your keys (illegal), have TSA locks on the case (illegal), or screen the case without opening it. This has given rise to airline representatives having to carry the case into this "back room" after trying to talk you out of your keys, and come up with some sort of communications vehicle that requires you to loiter at the ticket counter waiting for the agent to get a call with the "all clear", at which time you can proceed to enjoy your jelly glove treatment at the checkpoint.
The airline representative designated to carry my case to the TSA last week flat refused to let me fly if I would not give him the keys to the case to take with him. Based on what I've seen over the last 6-12 months, after flying with handguns remained relatively unchanged for many, many years, I am of the belief that TSA/DHS are creating policy on the fly to fulfill a directive to hassle people that travel with firearms.
I agree. I'm worried about theft from my luggage. My 686+ was purchased for $437 in 1999. They go for $780 now. It's my favorite recreational shooting handgun. It probably has 15,000 rounds fired since purchase. The 640 (5-shot stainless, shrouded hammer, .357mag) is my more common carry. Fits nicely in my pocket and the shrouded hammer keep pocket fuzz out of the action.
Interesting. I have not had that happen - either of those. I will be flying out to CA in a few weeks and I’ll see if there has been any change here with how they handle it.
The Commies in Gov’t don’t want us to HAVE guns much less travel with them.
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