Guns at O'Hare are disappearing firearms being stolen from checked bags

The Chicago Tribune ^ | August | David Heinzmann and Josh Noel

[LurkedLongEnough]

Several handguns have been stolen from bags checked by police officers, military personnel and others on United Airlines flights departing O'Hare International Airport, sparking concern that the weapons are loose in what is supposed to be a secure part of the airport.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been "a handful" of firearm thefts from luggage being handled by United personnel, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. Bags containing guns also have disappeared, authorities said.

News of an investigation surfaced days after new security restrictions were placed on airports across the nation in the wake of British authorities foiling what they said was a plot to blow up U.S.-bound airplanes.

Aviation security experts said stealing from checked luggage long has been a problem at many airports and that guns are a favored target because they are easy to smuggle out and easy to sell.

Still another concern is that putting something into a bag could be just as easy as taking an item out, experts said.

"It's a problem at every airline and every airport," said aviation security consultant Douglas Laird.

[LurkedLongEnough]

This reads like a backlash hit piece on the 2nd Amendment.

[Blueflag]

Since the bags MUST have a big bold tag on the outside declaring the firearm, it makes em easy to steal.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I ought to join the TSA. The selection of weapons might be limited, but you can't beat the price.

[vpintheak]

O'hare is the #1 stolen baggage Airport in the US.

[Xenalyte]

Yeah, guns running around "loose" in the airport is a real problem.

What if they meet up with a gang of marauding SUVs? Would mayhem ensue?

[AbeKrieger]

What's really happening here is the low-budget animals working in baggage handling are swiping them and getting them to the highest bidder. Whether its terrorists or common street thugs, it matters not, someone will end up dead.

Are there no surveillance cameras?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Since the bags MUST have a big bold tag on the outside declaring the firearm, it makes em easy to steal.***

The FEDS made the Railway Express do the same thing before the 1968 Gun Control Act became law. Many guns so tagged never made it to their buyers. This was when you could order through the mails and receive by train.

[Frank_2001]

The only solution is to ban bipods. Without legs for support, the guns can't run around loose;))

[yobid]

The last time I flew with my guns, they had to be declared and locked in a FAA approved hard case made specifically for carrying firearms. Very easy to spot one.

[RobRoy]

My wife works for an airline at an airport. One of the desk managers was walking through the “below decks” areas a few months ago and found three TSA agents going through a large suitcase, clothing strewn everywhere. This was in a “dark corner” and nowhere near the area they check bags.

They at first were stunned when they saw her, and then went into “move along citizen, nothing to see here” mode.

We NEVER, EVER put anything of value in checked luggage, and try to avoid checking luggage in the first place.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Since the bags MUST have a big bold tag on the outside declaring the firearm, it makes em easy to steal.

Nope, they can't require a tag on the outside of your bag. It is to be put inside the locked container the firearm in in. And TSA drops a pamphlet inside you baggage showing that they opened it up, but I watch it all and if my zip ties are cut later then there is going to be problem.

[Argus]

The cops and soldiers should be required to carry their guns on the plane, loaded and ready for bear.

[hometoroost]

Here's a thought - hire independent screeners and check the airport employees and their belongings as they go in and out of the airport. Limit the size of bags they bring in and out. If they don't already drug test and background check throw that in for good measure.

[The KG9 Kid]

Until airports stop hiring from the lowest dregs of society to be baggage handlers, the problem will not be curtailed.

It is also not a requirement that a label is placed on the outside of checked baggage containing a firearm. In fact, it's a requirement that the metallic ink imprinted card reading 'FIREARM' is to be secured inside the locked container with the disassembled firearm. The rule that the tag used to go on the outside was changed some time ago.

I have flown with all sorts of firearms in checked baggage plenty of times without a problem, even post-9/11. I do get a lot of interesting looks and occasional comments from fellow passengers however, depending on what I am travelling with. The airline flight counter personnel have never been any trouble to me.

I recommend to anyone travelling via air with firearms that they acquire a vault-like case and secure it with a massive lock:

[NautiNurse]

Solution: Screen airport workers with pax baggage access when they leave their shift.

[LibWhacker]

Airports are big shopping malls for thieves. These guns were taken by airline employees but I used to work for a big airfreight company where the amount of theft was pretty disgraceful. You never knew who was doing it (although truck drivers coming to work in high-end Porches gave you some idea), but everyone knew it was going on. One night a small box with a million dollars in computer chips disappeared. Everything was fair game. Automotive stuff. Racing stuff. They used to bust open the big chests major league baseball umps shipped from venue to venue and steal all the baseballs and baseball memorabilia.

[rocksblues]

Aviation security experts said stealing from checked luggage long has been a problem at many airports and that guns are a favored target because they are easy to smuggle out and easy to sell.

Why in the world are airline employees exempt from rigorous screening entering or leaving? Inquiring mind wants to know.

[libstripper]

I check my bags but don't put anything really valuable in them. My guns go in my car with me or not at all.

[KarlInOhio]

Is there anyway to lock it to your luggage with a 100 dB alarm if the lock is cut? Maybe even some type of dye pack too, so the crooked baggage gorilla could be sprayed with ink too.

[jonascord]

"Nobody has ever really resolved a real way around it," Laird said. "There's a real dilemma with baggage theft in the airline industry."

I'd bet a short drop and a sharp stop, in front of the United Terminal, followed by tarring the thief's body, and letting it swing in the breeze for a few months would go a long way toward cutting back on the problem...

[CindyDawg]

When they come in too. Items stolen can be replaced but if they can take stuff out , they can easily put stuff in.

[blau993]

Make em take their shoes off too!

[irv]

This reads like a backlash hit piece on the 2nd Amendment.

It reads like what it is. Reporters hate guns and the people who carry them (except thugs and terrorists, who are poor misunderstood victims)

[irv]

The cops and soldiers should be required to carry their guns on the plane, loaded and ready for bear.

Sorry. That makes too much sense. The TSA would never allow it.

[blau993]

Do you put that "vault like bag" inside another suitcase? I couldn't imagine that you could fit much else in the suitcase at that point.

Is your theory behind the big vault with the stout lock that it will be harder for the baggage handler or TSA stooge to walk out with the entire bag?

[calex59]

Do they still require you to mark it as a firearm? I thought that was done away with. X-rays will clearly show there is a firearm in the baggage, the perps are obviously working at the airports.

[Beelzebubba]

...bags MUST have a big bold tag on the outside declaring the firearm...

---

Add a "NOT" after "MUST", and your statement will be legally correct.

[Ghengis]

I have done security work for a large, international corporation. A laptop with proprietary information (issued to an executive in the company) was "lost" in the Dulles airport at a terminal for a major airline. I went round and round with the airline's Lost and Found and internal Security Department.

I finally reminded their Security Director of the amount of $$ my client spent on their airline each year for corporate travel. I then suggested that their staff check in their 'unofficial' Lost and Found where an item may not have yet been logged into their Lost and Found system.

Miraculously the laptop, safe and sound, was found within 10 minutes and on the next flight to the executive's home city within 90 minutes.

[Beelzebubba]

The last time I flew with my guns, they had to be declared and locked in a FAA approved hard case made specifically for carrying firearms. Very easy to spot one.

---

Huh?

If you have a handgun, you put it in a small locked case (like it came in) and put it in your ordinary, regular suitcase. FAA regulations prohibit marking the exterior of the suitcase to indicate its contents.

Any hard-sided rifle case is permitted, but that is not the topic of the article.

[Right Wing Assault]

"Nobody has ever really resolved a real way around it," Laird said. "There's a real dilemma with baggage theft in the airline industry."

Come on! Let me and a crew into O'Hare and I bet we could stop it real fast. Alarmed decoy bags with dye as someone mentioned; bags with flash cameras inside so the dude gets his picture taken (and craps his pants) and pic is transmitted to security; ransom lie detector tests; more security cameras; undercover baggage dudes; search baggage people when they leave; etc. Word would get out real fast.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Which part of 'shall not be infringed' do you not understand? Screw 'em. They're just citizens like you maybe and me for certain. Either we are equal or we are not. Thank goodness you're not tyrant. tagline...

[theBuckwheat]

>>
Until airports stop hiring from the lowest dregs of society to be baggage handlers, the problem will not be curtailed.
<<

You will recall that when federalizing of the airport security workers was being discussed in the Senate, the libs scolded opponents that paying them as federal employees would make them more "professional".

My father used to say that you can put pigs in the Hilton, but they are still pigs. The behavior of TSA screeners and baggage handlers comes from the demographics of the people who apply for the job. Until you change that, nothing will change.

[Beelzebubba]

They rip off handguns, not rifles. Easier to smuggle out, and there is a much better black market.

[Blueflag]

Well, it HAS been 30 years since I checked a firearm. My bad.

[Argus]

Hey, I wish we could all go armed on planes but that's obviously never gonna happen. But at least if there are some armed cops or soldiers on board, that's something.

[Beelzebubba]

"...ransom lie detector tests..."

I really hope that is NOT a typo, because it is a GREAT idea as typed"

[freedumb2003]

"Yeah, guns running around "loose" in the airport is a real problem.

What if they meet up with a gang of marauding SUVs? Would mayhem ensue?

The only solution is to ban bipods. Without legs for support, the guns can't run around loose"

LOL!! You guys are great!

[hometoroost]

And they shouldn't be allowed to bring in any liquids!

[ketelone]

You know you have to leave all your baggage unlocked when you board?

[samm1148]

No you are wrong. The plethora of laws restricting gun ownership among law abiding citizens, work. These baggage handling people would of course realize that they couldn't get away with it: The purchasers would have to register their stolen firearms.

If you believe that one have I got a deal for you!

[Right Wing Assault]

I really hope that is NOT a typo, because it is a GREAT idea as typed"

Hey! That works. Have a radio receiver hooked up. Guy opens the case and BANG! "Hands up, buddy!" Oops, I reversed the order there.

[SauronOfMordor]

The last time I flew with my guns, they had to be declared and locked in a FAA approved hard case made specifically for carrying firearms. Very easy to spot one.

Last time I flew with my handgun, it was in a hard case, and the hard case placed inside regular luggage with no external tag identifying a firearm inside

[BadAndy]

"Since the bags MUST have a big bold tag on the outside declaring the firearm, it makes em easy to steal."

The last time I flew with guns (1980s) it was required that a big orange tag be attached to the bag but not that the tag be on the outside of the bag. I confirmed this with the airline then stuck the tag inside the bag.

I once had a ruger redhawk 44 mag in a checked bag and had to show it to the baggage claim girl to prove the thing was unloaded. It attracted quite a bit of attention since it was considered a huge handgun during those days.

[Ditto]

O'hare is the #1 stolen baggage Airport in the US.

Hard to believe it's worse than JFK.

[CheneyChick]

You know you have to leave all your baggage unlocked when you board?

They now make TSA locks with a SearchAlert feature that shows if your luggage has been searched by TSA. It adds a little measure of security, rather than leaving everything completely unlocked and being too easy to mess with.

Luggage checked at an Airport is sent through an electronic screening. If a TSA agent determines the luggage needs to be hand searched, the SearchAlert lock will be opened by the TSA agent. When the TSA secured access device is used, the SearchAlert window changes color from Green to Red. The SearchAlert window should also change color if the luggage lock is tampered. If a TSA Agent hand searches a piece of luggage, the agent should leave a TSA Notification of Baggage Inspection in the bag. If the SearchAlert lock Security Window shows red, and no official Notification of Baggage Inspection is found, the traveler should take the luggage to the airlines baggage services office to determine if items are missing items have been added to the luggage.

[Conservative_Rob]

Now that every bag will have to be checked, what's a law abiding patriotic American to do????

Pretty soon all flights will be done in the nude.

[OldFriend]

I thought JFK airport in NY had that dubious distinction.

[Beelzebubba]

FYI for those checking handguns. I recently learned that (at least at some airports) they no longer ask you to demonstrate that the gun is unloaded. Apparently, after somebody put a hole in the counter, they realized it was safer just to let it remain in the case.

[art_rocks]

I'm sure that would be against union rules.

I remember watching 20/20back in the 80s and there was some major jewelry thefts from the Post Office in NYC. It was captured on video and the union said that was unfair.