One of the pictures has a clear visual date stamp with a "/90." Maybe this means nothing.
But I wonder if they are misleadingly posting these as if they were just discovered, rather than over what appears to be at least 23 years.
TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
11–20 of 66 posts
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#12This smells like a desperate attempt by the TSA to justify their own existence. Note that none of these confiscated weapons by themselves necessarily constitute an intent to use them. Knives especially are commonly carried and can easily be forgotten about.
> Note that none of these confiscated weapons by themselves necessarily constitute an intent to use them.
TSA themselves have been saying that, once a week, every week, for some time now.
(http://blog.tsa.gov/search/label/Week%20In%20Review)
> Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#13This smells like a desperate attempt by the TSA to justify their own existence. Note that none of these confiscated weapons by themselves necessarily constitute an intent to use them. Knives especially are commonly carried and can easily be forgotten about.
> Note that none of these confiscated weapons by themselves necessarily constitute an intent to use them. Exactly. If these were instances of the TSA actually protecting us then "passengers who try to go through security with a firearm usually get a citation and can face a fine" would not be the case. Not unless our plan is fining and citing terrorists out of existence.
Personally, I see this as an attempt to add humor and levity to a repeated and horrible violation of our rights and person.
"Hey, check out this gun! It has pink glitter! Aren't you glad we confiscated it!?"
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#14So our tax dollars are not only paying the TSA's jack-booted thugs to harass us at the airport, but they're also paying for TSA dorks to sit around and post on Instagram? Jeeeeebusssssss....
And people wonder why I'm such a government-hating Libertarian. sigh
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#15One of the pictures has a clear visual date stamp with a "/90." Maybe this means nothing. But I wonder if they are misleadingly posting these as if they were just discovered, rather than over what appears to be at least 23 years.
> One of the pictures has a clear visual date stamp with a "/90."
It's part of the vintage look.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#16I note that every single one of them caught by running your bag under the x-ray and/or a metal detector. The TSA provides no evidence that grabbing your nutsack or fondling your wife's breasts has found any weapon or threat that a simple bag x-ray and a walk through metal detector wouldn't find.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#17The headline is a bit odd. The TSA blog gives clear and simple instructions on how to take your weapons onto a plane. (Not loaded, not in your hand luggage.) Some people have said (on HN as well as other places) that the TSA have never stopped weapons getting on board a plane and if they had they would have heavily publicised it. In fact, they stop about 20 to 30 guns each week from getting on board a plane. Those gu…
> to help remind people to put guns into checked baggage instead
I have to wonder how many of the firearms they stop are just regular law-abiding concealed handgun license bearers who, in their rush to get to the airport, forgot that they keep a loaded firearm in their purse, briefcase, or backpack. Since the penalty is a $7,500 fine and not 20 years in jail, I have to presume this scenario is far more common "malicious guy planned to hijack plane."
This would be a very easy statistic to publish, too (only 10% of the people we stopped were even licensed to carry a handgun!), but since I haven't seen that statistic advertised, I would presume they find most of the stopped citizens to be guilty only of carelessness.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#18This smells like a desperate attempt by the TSA to justify their own existence. Note that none of these confiscated weapons by themselves necessarily constitute an intent to use them. Knives especially are commonly carried and can easily be forgotten about.
It's also in very bad taste. Even if things were being brought on purposefully... it just feels wrong to have authorities sort-of bragging about catching law violators.
It feels immature. Law enforcement is supposed to be serious. This kind of thing should only really be a number in a report, not a picture with a comment trying to be funny. It should be objective, neither heavy-handed or lackadaisical.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#19The headline is a bit odd. The TSA blog gives clear and simple instructions on how to take your weapons onto a plane. (Not loaded, not in your hand luggage.) Some people have said (on HN as well as other places) that the TSA have never stopped weapons getting on board a plane and if they had they would have heavily publicised it. In fact, they stop about 20 to 30 guns each week from getting on board a plane. Those gu…
> Some people have said (on HN as well as other places) that the TSA have never stopped weapons getting on board a plane and if they had they would have heavily publicised it
I believe the standard claim is that they have never discovered and apprehended a terrorist, preventing an attack. Everybody knows they steal shit from people who, although perhaps stupid, are not terrorists.
Re: TSA's gun policy: Confiscate it, Instagram it
#20The headline is a bit odd. The TSA blog gives clear and simple instructions on how to take your weapons onto a plane. (Not loaded, not in your hand luggage.) Some people have said (on HN as well as other places) that the TSA have never stopped weapons getting on board a plane and if they had they would have heavily publicised it. In fact, they stop about 20 to 30 guns each week from getting on board a plane. Those gu…
> to help remind people to put guns into checked baggage instead I have to wonder how many of the firearms they stop are just regular law-abiding concealed handgun license bearers who, in their rush to get to the airport, forgot that they keep a loaded firearm in their purse, briefcase, or backpack. Since the penalty is a $7,500 fine and not 20 years in jail, I have to presume this scenario is far more common "malici…
To be fair, they're not regular law-abiding citizens if they're bringing a loaded gun into an airport and attempting to get on a plane with it.
As much as I would love to see the TSA disappear tomorrow, some might argue that carelessness should be punished more often than it actually is...