Would this be caught?
Your Uncle Dave lives in Vegas and travels a lot, so I pass through security at the airport here several times a month. Don’t know about checked luggage, but an interesting thing happened a week ago while boarding a plane. TSA people were randomly stopping folks before boarding and patting and wanding them. Wonder what that was about.
A US Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, State Police and Transportation Security Administration officials said.
Corporal Justin Reed, 22, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on US Airways Flight 877 to Charlotte, N.C., said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. She said Reed had arrived on a flight from Las Vegas this morning.
TSA screeners in Terminal B called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after a screen discovered the following items in his checked baggage: a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.
Reed was charged with possession of an infernal machine and possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport. He was booked at the State Police barracks at Logan and held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He will be arraigned at East Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday.
Wasn’t an infernal machine in an Indiana Jones video game?
I can understand the fuses, etc. But, you are supposed put guns & ammo in checked baggage.
But I believe the rule is that the ammo must be in a box and not in the magazine. Also the gun me be checked and the luggage must be tagged with a special firearms tag. That way the handlers know which one to steal first. Sort of like when all my scuba equipment was stolen on a dive trip……
#2 Got it. LOL
Pad-man
Might want to invest in glasses. First sentence indicates it all WAS in checked luggage.
It sounds like he had “toy” black-powder model rocket engines, and I would guess this guy is just not too bright rather than someone who has intent. I want clarification on the grenade fuse, was it live or just something from an Army-Navy store?
Is this guy a frequent flyer who should have known better, or was this his first trip away from home?
# 4 Uncle Dave said, “Pad-man
Might want to invest in glasses. First sentence indicates it all WAS in checked luggage.”
Dave-man. You might want to invest in a trip to see the Wizard. I never said the other stuff wasn’t…
rules for flying w/ a handgun are as follows:
http://tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1188.shtm
It does not appear that he did anything wrong w/ the gun (except for not declaring it). The other stuff… not so much.
Possession of an INFERNAL Machine? WTF?? If I have a pacemaker, will I be charged with possession of an INTERNAL machine?
On a similar note — I was getting some medical tests which involved dripping a radioactive tracer into my veins and the tech warned me to stay away from airports for at least a couple of weeks.
Then she told me the story of a local pol who had the same test done and went to the White House for a Bush fundraiser a week later. Poor schlub set off alarms all over the place and brought the Secret Service running with guns drawn. The only thing that saved him was probably the $5000 check in his pocket made out to George W. Bush.
#2 “Also the gun me be checked and the luggage must be tagged with a special firearms tag.”
There is no tag on the outside of the case
Check out http://tinyurl.com/cpbs3e
From Front Sight web page
“When you arrive at the ticket counter, tell the agent you want to declare an unloaded firearm. Most agents will ask you to open the case and show them that the weapon is unloaded. They will then place a copy of the declaration in your case with the firearm and staple another copy to your ticket jacket. All airlines are a bit different in the form they have you fill out, but NO TAG IS PLACED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE LUGGAGE. The agent will then leave your weapon case UNLOCKED and will have your bag screened through the X-ray machine. Ask the agent to please lock your weapon case following the screening procedure. You are entitled to actually watch the agent lock the case so you are confident it was properly locked before being placed back inside your luggage (in the case of a handgun).”
Damn liberals.
There goes the short Wild Turkey hunting season of April 20- May 17th.
First if the ammo is in a magazine and that magazine is not in the gun then the ammo is in a box. A box that is a lot more sturdy than the one the ammo comes from the factory in.
The only thing he did wrong was not notify that the firearm was in the box.
From the photo, it appears we will all be safe from Boris Badenov.
I like the LAST Paragraph..
“Reed’s bags had to be screened again at Logan because baggage handlers inadvertently routed them to baggage claim instead of onto his connecting flight to Charlotte. Typically bags are not rescreened during a layover, she said.”
I wonder if this was a TEST, and someone PAST the word around to “RECHECK, we Missed it!!”
security is an illusion.
not for nothing, but several years ago i know a mate who was able to board a plane with all sorts of unmentionables checked into the passenger area that would have been headline news.
stupid as it was..-just to prove a point for an argument he had with some friends.
there are a multitude of simple ways to circumvent travel security. they mostly have to do with emotion.
the only thing anyone should ever worry about is when there is a political need to expedite passage of increased security laws in the name of national security.
fear not, the next wave of police state crap to befall us will be enacted via the upcoming war between the arab states and israel at the end of the summer.
the only clamp down before that will probably be cyberlaws pointing a finger at malicious acts from china and russia.
as an aside, this will be further be exasperated if the idiots in congress pass smartgrid mandates.
-this imo, has to be the most idiotic idea/concept in the pipeline yet. esp given recent reports and security flaws reported in recent leftwing DHS documents.
-s
I hate stories like this. The only response is to make security even more intrusive.
#14 soundwash
Tip
Weapons and ammo
So a week ago we were warned that returning soldiers were likely to become terrorists…now we see the first arrest of a military member.
Watch for more stories about bad, evil rightwingers and veterans!
Patriots, blood, tyrants, etc., etc.
“a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.”
1. Unloaded gun and separate ammo OK but must be declared.
2. Rocket motors – Hazmat and verboten on passenger aircraft.
3. Military pull-type fuses and grenade fuse with detonators – a BIG no-no anywhere.
4. Switches and electronic components – so what? But 1 through 3 were enough to get him busted big time.
But don’t feel safer because HE was caught:
The Things He Carried
Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security
The lad was merely ignorant, not malicious and a threat to none.
The rifle ammo without a rifle isn’t any sort of threat.
About the only way any of this would be dangerous is if the plane caught on fire.
Think it was a MESSED UP TEST…
And they called ahead to CHECK AGAIN..
It is apparent to me that airplanes are far to dangerous for the public. I have no use for them.