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TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

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Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#21

Post by forgotpwtomain »

chris_wot wrote: post #13
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They boast of all the knives and guns they've confiscated. I wonder though, whether we'd not be more secure if everyone carried guns on board. A hijacker wouldn't stand a chance. Of course, there might also be some bloody air rage incidents as well. But at the same time, maybe people would act more civil if everyone around them is packing, or at least the flight attendants....

Oh, a shoot out by multiple panicked passengers on a packed, pressurised plane. Sure, real safe. Not to mention it only takes one dimwit to not store his gun safely and accidentally fire it and someone (or everyone) dies. I've never understood this argument that if everyone has guns then everyone is safer.

> Oh, a shoot out by multiple panicked passengers on a packed, pressurised plane. Sure, real safeYou

You actually used to be able to travel with firearms on planes (edit: as carry-on). And the above never occurred afaik.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#22

Post by headShrinker »

jimcsharp wrote: post #10
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They boast of all the knives and guns they've confiscated. I wonder though, whether we'd not be more secure if everyone carried guns on board. A hijacker wouldn't stand a chance. Of course, there might also be some bloody air rage incidents as well. But at the same time, maybe people would act more civil if everyone around them is packing, or at least the flight attendants....

Maybe this is the movies I've watched, but isn't firing a gun structurally dangerous to the airplane?

Not to get too chatty but, myth busters had an episode on plane cabin decompression. The gun didn't have much effect. Granted, the plane wasn't moving

https://youtu.be/Fi1_1l7M8FA

Edit: better link

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#23

Post by JoeAltmaier »

forgotpwtomain wrote: post #21
chris_wot wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, a shoot out by multiple panicked passengers on a packed, pressurised plane. Sure, real safe. Not to mention it only takes one dimwit to not store his gun safely and accidentally fire it and someone (or everyone) dies. I've never understood this argument that if everyone has guns then everyone is safer.

> Oh, a shoot out by multiple panicked passengers on a packed, pressurised plane. Sure, real safeYou You actually used to be able to travel with firearms on planes (edit: as carry-on). And the above never occurred afaik.

You still can, in checked luggage.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#24

Post by diabeetusman »

frostburg wrote: post #15
jimcsharp wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this is the movies I've watched, but isn't firing a gun structurally dangerous to the airplane?

Not structurally, but you might hit something important.

I can't imagine there's anything "important" enough that would bring down the whole plane with one shot. I mean, sure you might kill a person or two, but pretty much every system is double- or triple-redundant, even the pilot(s).

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#26

Post by coldpie »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #6
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #5

Let's close down the TSA instead. Use intelligent profiling and random searches instead of universal scanning. Let anyone go to the gates, not just ticket holders. Allow liquids, yogurt containers, etc. Allow knives. Allow people to "congregate" near the front lavatory. Try it for one year and I can almost guarantee, flights will be every bit as secure. Security theatre is not security.

has the TSA stopped a single credible plot since it started doing all this theatre?

No.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#27

Post by DanBC »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #6
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #5

Let's close down the TSA instead. Use intelligent profiling and random searches instead of universal scanning. Let anyone go to the gates, not just ticket holders. Allow liquids, yogurt containers, etc. Allow knives. Allow people to "congregate" near the front lavatory. Try it for one year and I can almost guarantee, flights will be every bit as secure. Security theatre is not security.

has the TSA stopped a single credible plot since it started doing all this theatre?

They stop about 10 handguns a week. They don't say, and it's hard to know, how many guns they don't stop.

I think none of those gun owners had plans to use the gun at an airport or on a flight.

There's small amounts of evidence that "terrorists" moved to different approaches - the Inkjet cargo bombs, for example.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#28

Post by mayukh »

anonymousDan wrote: post #17

The airport security in most of the American airports I've seen in the last few years is just a complete shambles in terms of efficiency. It takes forever in comparison to most of the busy European airports I've been through. And I doubt the security is any better. For example, London Gatwick has a really fast system where they have a set of packing bays before you get to the scanners/pat downs. This massively reduce…

Domestic travelers too. Congress wouldn't care as much if newspapers weren't reporting record wait times ahead of the summer travel months. It's a mess. And they'll pretend they've done something by firing this guy and not allocating any more funds (Or let airports charge more..) Its not going to be free.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#29

Post by maxerickson »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #18
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They boast of all the knives and guns they've confiscated. I wonder though, whether we'd not be more secure if everyone carried guns on board. A hijacker wouldn't stand a chance. Of course, there might also be some bloody air rage incidents as well. But at the same time, maybe people would act more civil if everyone around them is packing, or at least the flight attendants....

Yes, the obvious takeaway from all those knives and guns? For decades folks have been bringing all that stuff on airplanes and there never was a 9-11. Never was an inflight shooting as far as I know. By reporting this stuff they're actually making the case of how totally useless they are -- and how pointless and misguided the "find the weapon" school of security theater is.

It seems it is merely incredibly rare.

This guy shot the pilots:

http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/burke-david.htm

This guy stabbed one pilot to death before he was subdued:

http://murderpedia.org/male.N/n/nishizawa-yuji.htm

The stabbing occurred after he reported the security flaw he used to get the knife on board the plane. Previously checked baggage could be picked up after passing through security for another flight. He was able to simply take the knife out of a bag he had checked on a previous flight.

Re: TSA's Head of Security 'Removed' from Office

#30

Post by jkot »

appleflaxen wrote: post #3

The most galling aspect is the $90,000 bonus, broken up into $10,000 increments to escape scrutiny. Who is running the TSA circus?

I find this ridiculous. TSA employs 55k people and has budged $8B. Sure its director should be pay reasonably.

At the same time Yahoo CEO gets over $150M and people applaud it.

I get private versus public organization difference, but TSA is bigger than Yahoo.

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