Gaping Holes in Airline Security: Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screeners

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

Last fall, as he had done hundreds of times, Iranian-American businessman Farid Seif passed through security at a Houston airport and boarded an international flight.

He didn't realize he had forgotten to remove the loaded snub nose "baby" Glock pistol from his computer bag. But TSA officers never noticed as his bag glided along the belt and was x-rayed. When he got to his hotel after the three-hour flight, he was shocked to discover the gun traveled unnoticed from Houston.

"It's just impossible to miss it, you know. I mean, this is not a small gun," Seif told ABC News. "How can you miss it? You cannot miss it."

But the TSA did miss it, and despite what most people believe about the painstaking effort to screen airline passengers and their luggage before they enter the terminal, it was not that unusual.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/loaded-gun-slips-past-tsa-screeners/story?id=12412458&tqkw=&tqshow=WN

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Wow - someone was asleep at the screening machine.

[Vincardog]

1. They were probably distracted by some babe in the nude xray machine

[pitohui]

2. any proof or this is just some guy's claim?

i don't think it's real tough for a guy w. money to pick up a gun in houston

IF the story was true, why would he come forward later?

i don't doubt that some guns etc. get past TSA, but we have undercover officers doing the testing

not "some guy" who takes a lot of flights, is sick of kabuki theater, and maybe has a motive to embarrass the TSA coming back and saying, nah nah...

some of the way i hear some frequent flyers talk abt the TSA is really just not that nice

the guy's story may be true but if it was, and he was a logical person and he screwed up and took contraband on a flight and got away with it, i think he'd just STFU and no one would be the wiser...

we have no evidence this really happened as described, it's just a funky story that makes no sense

if he wanted to get TSA in trouble, why wouldn't he mention it at the airport in houston where he could prove where he came from?

[MineralMan]

3. +1

We're all too ready to believe just about anything, as long as it appears to support our positions on an issue. We need to stop being so gullible, I think. I don't know this person. None of us do. Why should we trust him to tell the truth?

[RamboLiberal]

4. He reported it to TSA so I guess they checked it out

From OP source

TSA spokesman Greg Soule provided ABC News with a statement saying the agency was aware of the year-old incident and had taken steps to address it.

"We conducted an immediate investigation and remedial training was provided to the security officers involved," the statement said.

[pitohui]

9. "the year old incident"

yeah, right, in other words, we don't know if it is true or not, nor will we ever know

if they thought it was true, they would have fined the guy

[RamboLiberal]

19. They never gave us the rest of the story

I'd love to know what happened when he found out he had the Glock. They said it was a 3 hour international flight. What country did he fly to and how did he report it so he wouldn't be arrested and did he find a way of getting his Glock back home legally?

[gateley]

7. Well, since you've got him all figured out, now you can go check RamboLiberal's post - it's true. nt

[pitohui]

12. nothing in rambo liberal's post convinces he was there or can verify the story

sorry, i don't doubt guns get smuggled every day but i do doubt that anyone with a brain then reports themselves for having smuggled the gun

there's something going on here that makes no sense whatsoever

[gateley]

13. Maybe he was concerned about "real" bad guys getting on HIS flight w/a gun?

If I were an upstanding citizen and made that mistake, I'd report it, too -- I'd be concerned.

Either way, check out the article at the link -- it's interesting.

[progressoid]

11. How about 12 inch steel razor blades

About 1 minute into the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yaqq9Jjb4

[TheMadMonk]

23. Possibly no proof, but it's perfectly likely.

Adam Savage accidentally walked a pair of foot long razor blades through the nudiscan. Others have reported accidentally taking any number of items, including guns, bullets, and IIRC even a prop "explosive" device onto planes. And reports of successful official penetration tests are not at all uncommon.

You might also consider that however many get their 15 minutes of fame on "Airline/Border Patrol", enough contraband of all sorts gets through airport security for it to be considered worthwhile to attempt to hoodwink that security.

[melm00se]

30. If this had happened pre-2008 election

all the posts would have been:

see see see....Bush's TSA! Bush's TSA! Bush's TSA! They all suck!

Now, there is a ton of bending over backwards by some to avoid placing blame at the feet of the feet of the Chief Executive and his DHS secretary.

it's called "intellectual honesty"...either there is blame to be laid or there isn't, regardless of ideology and which party is in control.

The more and more I watch the political scene, the more I am convinced that some of the talk radio mouths are right (I'll insert: a broken clock is right twice a day):

There is a political class of elites (an adolescent nomenklatura?) and the rest of us. They have all the rights and we only have them because they, in their beneficence allow us to have them (but it's really only an illusion as with a waive of a pen they can take those rights away).

[KansDem]

5. Good thing he didn't keep it in his underwear.

"...is that a loaded snub nose "baby" Glock pistol in your pants...or are you just glad to see me?"

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Maybe they need computer software for those screen machines.

If it looks gun-shaped, it could send off an alarm.

[gateley]

8. That's a good suggestion. I had to empty my bag because of a little 2 "square

piece which turned out to be a cheap-ass lead bracelet I'd bought. They're probably instructed to check out anything that looks lead-ish, but the gun-shaped program would be a big help.

Write the code and sell it to Homeland Security - they love spending money! :hi:

[goddess40]

10. It's security theater, it's a joke as far as real security goes.

Adam from myth busters got through with 12" saw blades They were in a tube in is breast pocket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yaqq9Jjb4

[reggie the dog]

14. for what it's worth

my parents bought souvenir knives here in france that had a long blade like on the knife my dad used in the marine corps, they had it in their carry on and got through and this was after sept 11th, they did it by mistake but were shocked when they unpacked. they didnt want any problems so they never told anyone

[KeepItReal]

15. I wanna know why this "businessman" carries a Glock in his laptop bag

Does it come in handy for "negotiations" with clients?

[RamboLiberal]

20. People in US carry their guns in a lot of different ways

In a laptop bag I don't find that odd.

[jberryhill]

21. Because it looks funny under his hat?

[Sonoman]

16. I just flew from JFK with an industrial-grade cutter in my bag.

An older Olfa knife with two blades, one serrated and one straight-edge. The knife has two wheel-locks, one for each blade and the thing weighs probably a pound.

I had forgotten that I had tossed it into my bag and found it in-flight.

It's all a game, in my opinion.

Sonoman

[smuglysmiling]

17. Once my Grandmother...

came thru security with a snub-nose .38 in the bottom of her purse...went right thru security at LAX and flew to Atlanta...didn't discover she forgot to take it out and pack it until she got to our house. It is security theatre...a waste of tax money for a show to say...we're keeping you safe..utter BS..

[greiner3]

18. I was pulled aside two different times;

In airport checking. Once was for having two donuts in my carry on bag. No shit! The other time was for an unopened jar of peanut butter. I was going to have that along with the crackers I had also brought. I was told that I had exceeded the limit for 'spread-ables.' Again, no shit.

I was allowed to board with the donuts. I figured the agents were not ex-cops but was told I would have to check the peanut butter into my luggage or 'throw' the jar away. I guess some TSA agent really had a Jones for peanut butter.

[GReedDiamond]

24. Self-delete...wrong place...nt

[HillbillyBob]

22. Kills me i have to unload my bags pockets etc..

I ll not travel by air line if i have the play to grope and go game.

[GReedDiamond]

25. A friend of mine who lives in Thailand...

...but does a lot of business in Los Angeles, and California in general, once flew into LAX with a fairly large knife, used for wood carving, in his carry-on bag (his "carry-on bag" was a bag he used all of the time for carrying stuff he used on a regular basis -- he had forgotten to remove the knife from the bag on his departure from Thailand). He then flew from LAX up to northern CA, then back down to Los Angeles, all within a two day period of time. The knife was never detected. This was 2-3 years ago.

Security theater indeed...

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pecwae]

27. What's wrong with that?

It isn't like he had it hidden in prosthetic breasts or limbs, in a sanitary pad or ostomy bag, near his genitals or a pacemaker. :sarcasm:

[Prometheus Bound]

29. If it had been a nail file we would have something to worry about.

[RSillsbee]

28. Shortly after 9/11

My National Guard unit was activated for airport security. During the time we were there (mind you we just did patrols no screening) some one walked up to the boarding desk and asked what he should do w/ the M1A (Civilian M-14) in the bag for his camera tripod. Another guy walk through security twice w/ a disassembled shotgun.

In another incident (I heard about but didn't actually see) A guy put a Buck knife in the xray basket and the TSA guy didn't catch it but his supervisor did os the sup put the knif in a basket alone and rane through again, tech still didn't catch it. So , the sup took the knife opened it, put it back in a basket , ran it through the machine again and stopped the belt and asked the tech if he saw anything in the basket of note. The tech still didn't see it

[No Elephants]

31. Something about this story at this time seems fishy.

I am no fan of TSA, but the RW has mounted a massive attack on it, some say in a putsch to have it privatized.

And now, near the anniversary of the tightie whitey bomber wannabe, an Iranian accidentally flies with a gun?

Maybe, but I'm cautious.