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Post by willowgirl on Oct 11, 2021 13:51:01 GMT
... of doofuses who attempt to fly with guns in their carry-on bags. There have been 27 incidents at Pittsburgh International Airport so far this year. The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office announced that it is revoking the CCW permits of people who make this mistake, in hopes of bringing awareness to the problem. The airport authority is working to get other sheriffs in the region on board as well. Travelers also face fines and may have their guns permanently confiscated.
I worked for the TSA more than a decade ago and at the time we were seeing about a half-dozen guns a year at PIT, so the problem has definitely increased. You CAN fly with a gun in your CHECKED baggage; you just can't take it with you on the plane. Virtually all passengers who are apprehended with a gun at the checkpoint say that they forgot it was in their bag; however, it still makes for some tense moments for TSA screeners because you never know when you have a whackjob on your hands who might be looking to shoot up the place, or a terrorist who has armed accomplices behind him/her in the line with weapons that haven't been detected yet.
It is highly unlikely that you will make it through the checkpoint with a regular firearm because 1. If carried on your person, it will set off the metal detector, and 2. if it's put through the X-ray machine in your baggage, it will almost certainly be detected by the operator. Most guns are easily recognizable. At the TSA, we used to laugh at the special accolades given to screeners who found a gun in a carry-on, because it's really hard to miss a gun! You would have to be the worst X-ray operator imaginable to fail to identify a regular firearm. (Some all-plastic guns are being manufactured to escape detection and these would be a bit more tricky, especially disassembled, but a regular gun is ridiculously easy to identify via X-ray.)
As a conservative I find these incidents really embarrassing because it's hard to make the argument that gun owners are responsible, law-abiding people when stuff like this keeps happening. D'oh!
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Oct 12, 2021 1:42:31 GMT
I can't imagine the stupidity of anyone trying to sneak a gun past security, although we've all read stories of TSA being tested and the testers getting 100% of their guns through. Saying "I didn't know it was in there" is the lamest excuse I can imagine. Who packed that bag?
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Post by farmrbrown on Oct 12, 2021 2:23:38 GMT
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 15, 2021 11:46:11 GMT
I can't imagine the stupidity of anyone trying to sneak a gun past security, although we've all read stories of TSA being tested and the testers getting 100% of their guns through. Saying "I didn't know it was in there" is the lamest excuse I can imagine. Who packed that bag? I don't think it's guns that the testers are missing ... most likely it's bombs, which actually can be tricky to detect with the existing equipment.
And I don't think people are actually forgetting that they stored their gun in their luggage; I think they're defaulting to that excuse because it makes them less culpable than admitting they were trying to smuggle a gun through the checkpoint. I don't think these folks are terrorists of course; probably they're worried their gun will be "lost" (stolen) if they put it in a checked bag, so they attempt to slip through with it, not knowing just how obvious it will be on the X-ray.
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Post by joebill on Oct 23, 2021 11:46:41 GMT
Almost makes me think they are being used to portray gun owners as idiots. Be interesting to know if they are ever prosecuted and/or if some of them get busted more than once.
IF nobody ever goes to jail, maybe they are just running up the stats.....Joe
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Post by farmrbrown on Oct 24, 2021 2:32:20 GMT
Almost makes me think they are being used to portray gun owners as idiots. Be interesting to know if they are ever prosecuted and/or if some of them get busted more than once. IF nobody ever goes to jail, maybe they are just running up the stats.....Joe It varies on the locality as to whether you're arrested, given a summons to appear, or just escorted back to your car to leave the gun there and then return to get on your plane. Here's a sample. www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/airport-aviation-security/weekly-update-tsa-firearm-detections-week-36/ |
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Post by joebill on Oct 24, 2021 15:32:48 GMT
I guess some folks can be idiots with no help from government.....Joe
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Post by joebill on Oct 24, 2021 16:37:11 GMT
If they spent just a few minutes doing some research, they would discover they can send it through the mail to their destination C/O anybody they know on the other end. "You can ship a firearm to yourself in a state where you plan “to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity.” You must address it to yourself “in care of” the out-of-state resident. Once it arrives, no one but you can take possession of or open the package, so you must be at the destination to receive it." www.pewpewtactical.com/how-to-mail-guns/Of course, it will not be on the plane to protect you from box cutters, but then I imagine it would be a bit tough to get a box cutter aboard these days, too.....Joe |
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Post by rusty on Oct 24, 2021 18:27:11 GMT
Easier to carry in your checked bag, just have to have it in a locked case and declare it when you check the bag. The airline counter person usually calls someone over to check that its locked properly, then they hold your bag at the special counter for you to pick up when you get off the plane instead of tossing it on the carousel with everyone else's stuff.
I've heard cops are some of the worst offenders of trying to get through with guns. Maybe they really are forgetful since they're used to having a gun on them all the time or maybe they think its allowed for cops. I know federal cops can carry on planes and sometimes are required to but not sure if local cops ever are allowed.
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