During the week of November 4-15, The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) found two magazines in a stuffed toy which was being handled as a carry-on, at Orlando International Airport.
The magazines did not have any ammunition associated with them. They fell under the ban on "gun parts" in carryon luggage.
TSA reports local police were called and confiscated the magazines. It is not clear that is what happened.
USAtoday.com reports the Orlando Police Department sent them an email saying no police action was taken, as no crime was committed.
The theory behind "no gun parts" is probably the potential for guns to be disassembled, carried piecemeal by confederates, then reassembled once beyond the security checkpoint.
The motivation for the magazines in the stuffed toy may have been simple economics. It is not clear what model of magazines are in the picture. They probably have a retail price of $20-$30 each. Many airlines charge extra for checked luggage. It is common to see charges of $25 for each leg of the trip, sometime for each airline, both going to a destination and returning. $50-$100 extra for a piece of checked luggage are charged regularly.
People routinely attempt to avoid the charges by taking the largest carryon bags they can get away with.
The owner of the magazines may have thought it cheaper take them on board, and risk confiscation, than pay the extra charges for a checked bag.
In the same week, TSA found 205 firearms in checked bags. Of those, 176 had loaded magazines and/or loaded chambers. 72 had a round in the chamber.
During the same period, 31.7 million passengers were screened. The TSA found one firearm in checked baggage for every 154 thousand passengers.
When you consider that over 7% of adults in the United States have carry permits, you realize how amazingly law abiding, or simply prudent, airline passengers in the United States are.
Nearly all of the guns discovered in carryon baggage are simple errors made by passengers who are in a hurry, did not check the bag carefully before going on the trip, or where someone else made an error. Do something often enough; have enough people do it, and errors will be made.
I once carried a full box of .22 rimfire ammunition through security and on to the next destination, before discovering that it had been in a computer bag. Humans make errors. The only people who do not make errors are those who never do anything.
One of the rare exceptions was a woman who TSA found had a firearm concealed "in her chest area". It was shown as a Berreta model 21. There was no round chambered, and the cartridges were reported to have been loaded into the magazine backwards.
As bearing arms is a right protected by the Constitution of the United States, and as the federal government forbids the carry of arms on commercial aircraft, except in checked baggage; the government has a responsibility not to chill the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
The charge of additional fees for checked bags directly chills the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Perhaps the regulations should be changed, to forbid the charge of extra fees if the checked bag contains arms protected by the Second Amendment.
©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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1 comment:
Concealed in a stuffed toy. That cannot be construed as unintentional in anyone's book. That leaves the question of purpose, what was the intent in this action? The single most common excuse given to screeners is "I didnt know it was there", followed closely by "I forgot". No one is ever going to admit that they were testing the system, or that they was actually trying to get a loaded firearm on an aircraft, or that they thought they were smarter than those that designed the screening process. No, "lets pass off the responsibility in any way we can, as long as we are not held responsible.", this is the way of the current generations. Even when the firearm is strapped to one's leg (Yes, this has happened), avoiding responsibility is the first reaction. But I kind of like the idea of giving bags containing a firearm a free ride, it would comply with federal regulations without causing the passenger undue stress, but I get the feeling that the airlines would scream loudly and clearly about lost revenue. And yes, I was a screener.
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