Document Scanners Make Debut at Airports

[Rose Siding]

snip>
It is also being used at Los Angeles International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Washington Reagan National Airport to detect chemical residue on the surface of items such as wallets, passports and airline boarding passes.

Not all passengers will be required to go through the document screening. It will be used for passengers selected by security workers and those who set off alarms at checkpoints, said Michael Zunk, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at O'Hare.

Dozens of chemicals could trigger the scanners, including nitroglycerin taken by heart patients, fertilizer and gunpowder residue.

"If you trigger the device, you will go through a questioning process as to what have you touched, where have you been, what have you done?" Zunk said.

The TSA is spending $300,000 to deploy a scanner at each of the airports, agency spokeswoman Amy von Walter said.

After a 30-day pilot program, officials will weigh whether to buy scanners for all the nation's 429 commercial airports.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-airport-explosives-test,0,3637298.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Some company is going to make lots of money on this machine that will help detect gardeners and seniors.

[skippythwndrdog]

1. Recreational shooters are going to have fun, too.

I took a flight during the summer to visit friends. Some of us target shoot recreationally. I declared my firearms and ammunition in my checked luggage and went through the procedures. FYI: I always carry copies of the pertinent Federal laws and TSA regs concerning firearms and ammunition on my person when I fly because I've found that TSA agents usually know diddly squat about the regs they are supposed to enorce.

After my bags hit the bowels of the luggage system, a bomb dog alerted on my bag that contained the firearms and the bag that contained the ammunition. I got called aside and escorted to a holding room for reinspection of my bags and questioning. It was not a fun process. Since I'd jumped through all the hoops I was allowed to boaard my flight. My firearms and ammunition arrived safely.

I can see it now. The copies I mentioned above travel in my carry on. They are stored in my gun safe at home. I wonder what Technosniffer will think when it smells them!

[FormerOstrich]

2. I don't get it...

how does this make air travel safer? What a person touched before they came to the airport doesn't seem like much of a threat. Trace residue has never really seemed like something to worry about. Something about this doesn't really sit well with me.

[lilymidnite]

3. Cosmetics containing glycerin set it off also

This happened to a friend of mine when they were scanning in SLC just prior to the 2002 Olympics.

[smirkymonkey]

4. There is a scanner that specifically detects explosives

http://www.airport-technology.com/contractors/security/ge/

However I don't know if it is currently in use around the country yet.

[skippythwndrdog]

5. It still leaves me in a pickle.

I'm a recreational shooter. Gunpowder is explosive. The residue gets everywhere because of the muzzle blast. Even a long shower with lots of brushing and scrubbing doesn't remove it all.

edited to add: It's especially a booger with black powder firearms