Guns at airport checkpoints...

[Jon651]

Am I the only one who can remember back in the day when the TSA would let you ship any item except a gun back home instead of it being automatically confiscated?

I can still recall the mailers they gave us for the nail clippers, Leatherman tools, Swiss Army knives and razor blades, etc. instead of forcing you to just toss it in the barrel with the rest of the confiscated stuff. There's not a lot of stuff like that I would cry about, but frankly some of those shaving cartridges back then were expensive!

 

[Beemerguy53]

Maybe so, but in GA if you have a CCL and forget about your firearm, it's just an inconvenience now because you may miss your flight leaving security to store your gun.
You're only arrested if you don't have a CCL.
Think that's what I originally said?

Yes, that was what you said, and I didn't dispute it...I just pointed out that regardless of what various state laws say about carrying a gun, it's still a violation of Uncle Sam's regulations in every single state. That big fat federal fine is the same regardless of where you live or whether you have a CCL...

 

[Beemerguy53]

Am I the only one who can remember back in the day when the TSA would let you ship any item except a gun back home instead of it being automatically confiscated?

I can still recall the mailers they gave us for the nail clippers, Leatherman tools, Swiss Army knives and razor blades, etc. instead of forcing you to just toss it in the barrel with the rest of the confiscated stuff. There's not a lot of stuff like that I would cry about, but frankly some of those shaving cartridges back then were expensive!

At TSA checkpoints at BWI, there is a mailing system you can use to send things back to yourself. I've seen the same thing in at least some other airports as well.

 

[soFlaNative]

I zip tie every zipper on a suitcase shut

If objects with an edge are prohibited how do you remove the tie? Nail clippers?
Some airlines dont allow cremated remains in checked baggage so I placed my in-laws in an Eberlestock pack designed to fit under a seat. Using the bag as a carry on for the return trip I had forgotten my favorite little Buck Tool I had used to pop the bags in an interior pocket. The agent was cool and suggested I go see if my checked bag was still available or Fed Ex it to my home. Remembering the grinning idiot at the counter and not having time to find a drop box kiosk and recheck in I let it go.
I miss it to this day, the good blade with pliers at the other end and slide out screwdrivers the one hand operation far outshines the Leatherman I now use at work.

 

[TXBryan]

It seems some portion of discretion should be allowed when it comes to what goes on a commercial aircraft. I've been on both sides of it, cautioned discretion, and, rules are rules no matter what.

I flew at least three weeks a month for 20 years for my work. Flying was getting a lot less fun even before 9/11 but that really changed everything. One of my very first flights after 9/11 I packed normally, but without the companion pocket knife I was accustomed to - felt almost naked. The Wackenhut security guy opened my shaving kit in front of me, removed my fingernail clipper and broke the 1-inch file off and put it back, without saying a word to me. I was perplexed and angry that it was done without warning or explanation but in order to make my flight I didn't make a huge stink. A fellow passenger caught me down the concourse and asked "what that was all about" and I told her. She then opened her large carry-on to reveal two foot long aluminum knitting needles with relatively sharp points. Explanation was "they were not on the list;" at least not that first week or two of flying after 9/11. The safety differences between 1-inch nail files and foot long metal spikes didn't make much sense and I believe knitting needles were added soon after that.

I remember several years ago when some federal authority went public about allowing knives with blades under 1.5 inches back on flights. I was flying from Lubbock to Austin with one of those teeny Swiss Army knives - no problem from Austin to Lubbock with it in my kit. Alarm bells in Lubbock though. I explained the press release I'd seen, the TSA agent explained the press release I hadn't seen, rescinding the the one I had seen. He said something along the lines of "that was last week." I had failed to keep up apparently.

A supervisor came over and eventually allowed me to fly with the teeny Swiss bauble with my promise to not do it again. I think having a CCL and being a 2-million miler on that airline probably helped him decide I was not a credible threat.

 

[BSA1]

I used to work in a Maximum Security Prison and carried one of the smallest knives Swiss Army makes. It was allowed as I (or we) use it to open and inspect packages and mail for contraband. I carried it everywhere and was such a part of me I forgot about it being in my pocket.

Big mistake. My wife and I were flying regularly to Georgia and on this occasion forgot to leave my knife at home and emptied my pockets for the scanner. A tall female TSA agent picked up the knife and holding it with her long fake fingernails for everyone to see and announced very loudly “whose knife is this?”. Well everything and everyone froze and you could hear a pin. I mean OMG! a crazy person with a knife. I calmly replied “Mine. why?”’she then equally loudly “You can’t take this on a plane” I fully expected to be arrested but I ended up donating it to the TSA “in the interest of national security”

I told a Supervisor where I worked and asked him why it was banned. He kindof rolled his eyes and said anything with a sharp edge longer than 1” was banned.

We have other horror TSA stories but IMO it is a useless agency with fake security.

 

[Smoke]

It's been my experience it once you argue with a TSA agent or a ticket agent or a security guard or people like that the argument stops being about the argument and starts being about you questioning their AUTHORITY and you're never going to win no matter how many regulations you show them.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I used to work in a Maximum Security Prison and carried one of the smallest knives Swiss Army makes. It was allowed as I (or we) use it to open and inspect packages and mail for contraband. I carried it everywhere and was such a part of me I forgot about it being in my pocket.

Big mistake. My wife and I were flying regularly to Georgia and on this occasion forgot to leave my knife at home and emptied my pockets for the scanner. A tall female TSA agent picked up the knife and holding it with her long fake fingernails for everyone to see and announced very loudly “whose knife is this?”. Well everything and everyone froze and you could hear a pin. I mean OMG! a crazy person with a knife. I calmly replied “Mine. why?”’she then equally loudly “You can’t take this on a plane” I fully expected to be arrested but I ended up donating it to the TSA “in the interest of national security”

I told a Supervisor where I worked and asked him why it was banned. He kindof rolled his eyes and said anything with a sharp edge longer than 1” was banned.

We have other horror TSA stories but IMO it is a useless agency with fake security.

If TSA is a useless agency with fake security, how is it that we have not had an airplane hijacking or similar event since 9/11? Contrary to your assertion, I think the evidence shows they're effective.

Since you are apparently a security professional with intimate knowledge of TSA, tell us, please: Are the Federal Air Marshals useless? The Federal Flight Deck Officers [armed pilots]? The bomb-sniffing dogs at airports? The checked baggage screeners that prevent hazmats and flammables from getting on flights? The TSA Inspectors who enforce the Code of Federal Regulations? Those entities are all components of TSA...they're all useless, and their jobs are fake? (Where's a rolleyes emoji when you need it?)

When I fly, I carry with me a Classic Swiss Army knife that has no blade; I cut if off with my Dremel tool, leaving the scissors, nail file, toothpick and tweezers. I have it on a ring with a Leatherman Style PS...the only tool they make with no blade. Every single time I fly, TSA officers take a good look at those items. Sometimes they'll tell me I can't take them before they've actually looked at them...when that happens I calmly and politely tell them there are no blades on those tools, and when they verify that they give them back to me. I figure they have a tough and challenging job as it is...why make it that much worse by having a bad attitude or insulting them?

 

[Beemerguy53]

It's been my experience it once you argue with a TSA agent or a ticket agent or a security guard or people like that the argument stops being about the argument and starts being about you questioning their AUTHORITY and you're never going to win no matter how many regulations you show them.

Hmmm...I've observed over the years that telling professionals how to do their jobs, and insisting you know the rules of their workplace better than they do, really isn't very effective.

 

[Smoke]

Hmmm...I've observed over the years that telling professionals how to do their jobs, and insisting you know the rules of their workplace better than they do, really isn't very effective.

It's also been my experience that when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs the one that barks the loudest is the one you hit

 

[Beemerguy53]

What a "fowl" thing to do...

Florida traveler stuffed gun into a raw chicken and tried to bring it on the plane, TSA says - CBS News

 

[SMSgt]

It's been my experience it once you argue with a TSA agent or a ticket agent or a security guard or people like that the argument stops being about the argument and starts being about you questioning their AUTHORITY and you're never going to win no matter how many regulations you show them.

All you get is the minimum-wage stare.