Gun-packing Atlanta air travelers land in jail(GA)

Monday was a busy day for Transportation Security Administration agents on the lookout for weapons at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Within a two-hour period, agents confiscated three guns from travelers and police arrested them, , according to Channel 2 Action News.

So far this year, TSA agents have confiscated 87 guns at the airport, one of the busiest in the nation. By comparison, 69 guns were taken from travelers last year at Hartsfield-Jackson.

"Forgetting" you have a gun in your carry on when going through airport security, where there are signs everywhere prohibiting posession, shows a certain level of irresponsibility on the part of the gun owner. Where else might the gun owner "forget" where their gun is, or if it's loaded? It's not a mere pocket knife or some other "Oops, I didn't know" item in your bags.

A better solution might be to clearly warn people and charge an on-the-spot fine/fee of $100: "Take it back to your car, and pay over there to proceed to the boarding gate."

A better solution might be to clearly warn people and charge an on-the-spot fine/fee of $100: "Take it back to your car, and pay over there to proceed to the boarding gate."

I think that would be a good solution. People are not perfect. I have had people, thinking they are helping, put a gun in luggage without my knowledge. I once found I had a box of 50 cartridges in my carry on that went through TSA without them being noticed.

Do something enough, and you will make a mistake. This is a relatively small mistake, and should not be treated as a major crime.

We can differentiate between those who lead responsible lives, and make the occasional mistake, and those whose lives are a series of disasters and irresponsibility.

I wish there was a country that had a system of government based of law and not men and we would limit the power of the government. And we could enumerate some very basic unalienable God given rights and state that the right to keep and BEAR arms shall not be infringed.

It seems like that would be a great place to live. Maybe we could write a book about that, only instead of "once upon a time," we could start the story with "When in the course of human events," and then in Part II it could start "We People of the Mythical Fairytale Land....."

I have a simple solution to this problem.

Everyone who does not have a concealed carry permit shall be issued a metal badge which bears the imprint, "I am unarmed".

They shall be required to carry this badge at all times when outside airports. If found to be without this badge, they shall be arrested and charged with a felony.

Furthermore, the possession of this badge on an airplane shall be prohibited and persons found to be attempting to carry such a badge past a security checkpoint shall be arrested and charged with a felony.

Once this plan is implemented, those wishing to exercise their right to keep and bear arms will have an even playing field when it comes to being arrested.

I would predict that the punishments would be reduced dramatically within a year after many thousands of otherwise innocent people committed the crime of carrying their "I am unarmed" badges into restricted areas.

Here's the proper way to handle this problem:

"Sir, I see you have a firearm in your carry-on luggage. Since you are not a felon, I will remove the firearm, place it into a locked container, hand you the key, put the container into the cargo hold of the plane, and an airline employee will return the container to you when the plane lands. Have a nice flight."

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