Good point! Bullets...
.
... would be pretty ineffective without brass, primers and powder.
Posted on 04/18/2012 6:39:05 AM PDT by marktwain
AI member Tyler relays a tale of wanton death and destruction that was only narrowly averted by the vigilance of our friends who work for the Transportation Safety Administration. We’re not sure what Tyler was thinking – trying to carry such a dangerous item on board a commercial aircraft – but here’s his story . . .
I had the friendly people at TSA notify me when I tried to get on a flight to Alaska (where I work around bears) this morning that a disassembled bolt for a Ruger m77 is not, in fact, a nicely machined paper weight but is actually a full-fledged firearm that I could use for some evil purpose…if I had managed to somehow convince 30 accomplices to meet me on the other side of the security checkpoint with the other rifle bits they’d stowed in their carry on bags.
I’m probably just super naive and used to the open carry that I enjoy while I am living in Alaska but come on, half of a bolt assembly for a rifle? The tiny regional airport I was at was actually staffed by some really cool people and the cop I talked to was more interested in bear hunting stories than anything else. He claimed that he personally put it into my checked luggage instead of confiscating it like a good robot would. Thank God I was flying out of a small podunk airport and not SEA-TAC (where I am typing this). I can just imagine the circus that would have erupted at the TSA checkpoint here.
If you were wondering about the logistics, I usually leave my rifle up there and just bring the bolt back and forth with me. That way it can’t be used by anybody else like my little brother. This is the first time I have ever been hassled about the bolt and I got a real funny look when I asked them to define when a spring, screw, bolt or piece of pipe becomes a firearm.
Props to the cop Tyler swapped bear hunting stories with. He really did go out of his way to slip the blue bolt into his checked bag so Tyler didn’t lose it. Just a thought: Tyler may want to consider a secure bolt storage facility in Alaska for future trips to the lower forty-eight. Share
Jus' sayin' ...
Right. Because if you were planning to sneak a disassembled firearm into a crowded airplane cabin, assemble it and threaten people, you would obviously prefer to wield a rifle. Freaking idiots.
hm... I honestly think the TSA goes too far in most instances...
but
I don’t think people should be allowed to carry on pieces to a gun. Even if each seperate piece is harmless in itself, who’s to say that 5 other passengers have all the “other” pieces. Each of which is harmless by itself, but could be assembled once on the plane. I guess you would still need bullets... but I guess one could make the arguement that even bullets by themselves (without a gun) are just paper weights too!
Eliminate the TSA entirely:
All passengers open carry a heavy automatic pistol.
Terrorists, radicals, etc. may start an incident if they choose.
But instead of facing disarmed, helpless sheep/victims, they face armed, prepared, free men.
May be the wild, wild west for a few months, while things sort themselves out.
Then airline terrorism will be a distant memory, (and airline passengers will rediscover manners!)
Problem is, a lot of things could be parts to a gun, if one wanted to get fancy about it. You can’t protect from every possible conspiracy, nor should you try.
Keeping a rifle part off a plane is stupid. Especially when the person with it is clearly not a muslim, nor do they have any swastika tatoos.
They are, or were, 'professionals', who did their jobs, loved their countries and were usually highly intelligent. The TSA, OTOH, is a collection of idiots that, were it not for extremely lax hiring rules and PC hiring practices, would not have the intelligence to work at a private sector job anywhere. Just the fact that they work for the government speaks volumes for their capabilities and judgement................
A pencil to the neck can do a lot of damage, even kill you.
Give me a choice to ride in a plane where anyone can carry firearms vs. a plane where it is prohibited and I’d choose the “armed” plane every time. No boxcutter wielding suicide hijacker would succeed on such a ride. Nor if he and his cohorts were carrying pistols either.
Very few people can realize that disarming good folks doesn’t make anything “safe”.
Loss of liberty is loss of liberty, not fine tuning of a perfect society.
Hell people should be able to carry firearms on planes. Shall not be infringed.
Me neither, I think we should be allowed to carry our own legal, loaded guns on board.
Does your handle indicate that you once flew over Texas, back in 2009?
well.. it should probably be left up to the particular airlines. The federal government shouldn’t even be involved.
If every passenger carried one bolt or spring or other gun part, they’d be able to put together a functioning gun. It’s like that guy who worked at a car company who over 30 years of taking home parts managed to build himself a vehicle.
The only part of a gun that makes it legally a gun is the receiver. The receiver has the serial number on it.
Thus, a receiver all by itself is considered a gun.
Everything else is just metal hardware.
Try leaving McCarren with vernier calipers in a briefcase!
Yes that would work because a lot of airlines would relized that many people will protect themselves. If the airlines make it difficult people will go on one that respects people.
BATF only recognizes the serial-numbered part (usually the receiver) as the "firearm". I don't see why TSA shouldn't follow the same guidance.
Good point! Bullets...
.
... would be pretty ineffective without brass, primers and powder.
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