Surreptitious Weapon Looks Like A Cell Phone: New Airline Security Threat

wnbc.com ^ | June 27, 2002

[TomGuy]

Surreptitious Weapon Looks Like A Cell Phone

Guns Disguised As Cell Phones Pose New Airline Security Threat

POSTED: 4:33 p.m. EDT June 27, 2002
UPDATED: 2:35 p.m. EDT June 28, 2002
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Aviation security consultant Wayne Black finds many airport screeners don't know what they're doing.

"We are still playing catch-up, and will be playing catch-up [for some time]," Black said. "We are still not trained."

"I saw people with these little wands scanning the forehead of a bald man," Black continued. "You'll see them pull an 80-year-old lady in a wheelchair out of line and search her and scan her bare arms."

While screeners use special X-Ray machines for laptop computers, experts say cell phones get nothing but a visual inspection leaving security wide open for one thing that's new: A cell phone gun.

"It's a cell phone loaded with four 22-caliber bullets," Black said. "Those things crank out of there at almost 100 feet per second."

Link to story

[The Raven]

There's an old JAG [TV series] where three terrorists each bring in a piece of a gun - then assemble it on board.

[robertpaulsen]

Check it out at Snopes complete with video.

[Enduring Freedom]

Anyone know Osama's number?

[dawn53]

Totally off topic, but I like JAG. It's the only TV show I watch on a consistent basis.

I like the fact that they use current events for story lines.

[Moose4]

100 feet per second? BB guns have a higher muzzle velocity than that. Major League pitchers have a higher muzzle velocity than that (both when they spit and when they throw). Think that's a typo maybe?

}:-)4

[Nubbin]

"You'll see them pull an 80-year-old lady in a wheelchair out of line and search her and scan her bare arms."

What? You never heard of the peel-n-stick fake hairy mole that shoots 22-caliber bullets?

[det dweller too]

Agree. 10 ft/sec is about 66 MPH. Not enough to even leave a red mark.

[det dweller too]

OK fat finger time. 100 ft/sec ~ 66 MPH

[Greeklawyer]

I think they should focus on searching for terrorists and
instead of just looking for "objects."

Guns don't kill people, People kill people and all that.

[genefromjersey]

The "cell phone gun" has been around at least 10 years !
It used to be a "pager gun".

[Jhoffa_]

Agree. 10 ft/sec is about 66 MPH. Not enough to even leave a red mark.

I believe a 22LR does break the sound barrier.. (part of the "crack!" you are hearing when you fire it) So, that's at least in the neighborhood of 700 mph, right?

[robertpaulsen]

Aguila, Super Max,.22 LR --------- 1750 fps
CCI, Stinger, .22 LR -------------- 1640 fps
CCI, Quik-Shok, .22 LR ---------- 1550 fps
Federal, Hyper Velocity, .22 LR --- 1550 fps
Remington, Viper, .22 LR1 -------- 1410 fps
Remington, Yellow Jacket, .22 LR - 1500 fps

[painter]

I just saw the video.That cellphone looks and sounds real.

100ft per second? That had to be a typo.What I saw is more like 1000ft. per second.

[wita]

unless of course you use the much quieter, subsonic rounds.

[Jhoffa_]

Now that's more like it..

Some of that muzzle blast is the bullet breaking the sound barrier.

[umgud]

A .22 short will go subsonic out of a handgun, but it would still probably be in the 500-600 fps range.

[knuthom]

Aviation security consultant Wayne Black finds many airport screeners don't know what they're doing.

No kidding. On Rush Limbaugh yesterday a flight attendant called in and told another story about screener ineptitude. She said that federal marshall took his gun on the plane, with a permit, but the screeners took away his nail clippers.

[Jhoffa_]

And, PS..

Since you can hide the components for a small gun in just about anything if you really wanted to. (an electronic device with dense sheilding to help hide it from the screeners.. HELL, they can't even recognize a fully assembled gun 100% of the time!) I say this is just one more reason to arm our pilots..

And, hopefully it will be a slippery slope. With more and more people being armed and crime going down, down down..

You know, I was in the Carribean last year and on every street corner was a cop with a sawed off, pump action shorgun. I never felt safer.

You would see some guy kind of loitering in the shadows at night, leaning against a tree.. hanging out. Yep, it was an armed cop lying in wait. Real quiet, just waiting..