Man Accidentally Carries Loaded Gun Onto Plane; TSA Failure Rate May Approach 70%

[The Straight Story]

Man Accidentally Carries Loaded Gun Onto Plane; TSA Failure Rate May Approach 70%

It seems like terrorists don’t even need to think of crazy new shoe, underwear, or pancake bombs to get around the TSA, since airport security seems to have forgotten what normal weapons look like. Though they still won’t let me bring four ounces of conditioner onto the plane.

About a year ago, Houston businessman Farid Sief accidentally brought his loaded Glock on a flight from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. The loaded gun, which Seif carries for protection, was tucked away in his laptop case, and should have been clearly visible since he had to take his laptop out of the bag, which was practically empty.

“I mean, this is not a small gun,” Seif said. “It’s a .40 caliber gun.” … “There’s nothing else in there. How can you miss it? You cannot miss it,” Seif said.

Seif was shocked when he realized halfway through his flight that the gun was still in his bag. He reported it as soon as he landed. Not that we haven’t seen this before with things like six-inch hunting knives or 12-inch razor blades, but aren’t x-ray machines put in place specifically to detect bulky chunks of metal like guns? The scary part is that a TSA spokesperson told ABC news that this isn’t an uncommon lapse of security:

Authorities tell ABC News the incident is not uncommon, but how often it occurs is a closely guarded government secret. Experts say every year since the September 11 attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert tests of airport security. A person briefed on the latest tests tells ABC News the failure rate approaches 70 percent at some major airports. Two weeks ago, TSA’s new director said every test gun, bomb part or knife got past screeners at some airports.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/12/21/man-accidentally-carries-loaded-gun-onto-plane-tsa-failure-rate-may-approach-70/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+80beats+%2880beats%29

[AndyTiedye]

1. Instead they Look for a Big Gun in Your Underwear

Touch my junk and it might go off.

[hobbit709]

2. It's the three stooges model put into practice.

The Keystone Kops were a model of efficiency in comparison to our HS and it's subsidiary, TSA

[xchrom]

incompetence: it's the new new. nt

[xchrom]

3. hiccup. nt

[ixion]

4. That's because their true purpose is to harass otherwise free citizens

and they do that quite well.

[Little Star]

5. Well, I sure feel safer.

:sarcasm:

[pipoman]

6. I wonder why he would believe it necessary

to report at his destination? Wouldn't this only result in a time consuming investigation at best and criminal charges at worst? If it were me, I would quietly exit the airport and ship the gun back to myself prior to my return flight.

[Kolesar]

9. I suppose they could put him on the "do not fly list" or otherwise screw up his life...eom

[pipoman]

19. Not ifr they didn't know, and apparently they didn't...until he told them..

[Vinca]

7. There was another story in the news this week about a shipping company

in the midwest that hasn't been screening any packages for anything and loading them onto commercial aircraft. And the TSA is worried about coffee containers?

[tavalon]

11. They aren't, actually

They are worried you won't obey.

[LisaL]

8. Gun? Who cares about guns?

Now days TSA is looking for thermoses, or haven't you heard?

[LARED]

10. 70%?. I doubt it's that low.

I'd guess it's more like 80%+.

[ShadowLiberal]

12. I've read about a guy who brags about the stuff he got past the TSA

I read a story once about a guy who goes on flights a lot for business, who realized one time after 4 flights in a row that he had a knife in his carry-on bag. He only realized it after a security screener finally caught it on flight #4. The guy honestly thought he put it in his other noncarry on bag.

After that the guy started to have fun making lists of stuff they managed to sneak onto planes and bragged about it online. He even successfully sneaked some stuff onto a plane while wearing a tee shirt that said "Osama Bin Laden is my hero" (I'm not sure if he looked Muslim or not).

Among the stuff he got on a plane that I recall.
-Knifes
-A beer belly container full of fluid, well over the 3 or 4 ounce limit
-Box cutters

But really the TSA's failure shouldn't be surprising, I mean it's a minimum wage job with an over 100% yearly turnover rate (meaning people don't even stay a TSA screener for a year, since the job is so awful and too little pay).

They need to pay TSA screeners more so that they can get better qualified people then what they have now.

[old mark]

13. IMO, the real purpose of the TSA's efforts is to make it seem like we have

a security system in place. It is mostly for show, to reassure travelers, and make the pols look like they are doing something.

mark

[Kurovski]

14. And as usual, big political donors are making money

selling their crap to us "for our own good".

[notesdev]

15. It's of no concern to the TSA

their job is not securing the flights, it's acculturating the American public to a police state.

[marmar]

16. El teatro de seguridad

It's just a show.

[grahamhgreen]

17. A Freind of mine had a pack of razor knife blades AND a can of mace in his bag that went undetected.

[bemildred]

18. TSA always was a stupid idea badly carried out. nt

[madinmaryland]

20. But if he had taken a cigarette on board, he'd be looking at 20 years of hard time..

Merry Christmas!!

:hi: