Airport screeners find 75 guns per month

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | November 25, 2004 | Audrey Hudson

[neverdem]

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The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Airport screeners find 75 guns per month

By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 25, 2004

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Traveling for the holidays? Have everything you need? Razor? Toothbrush? Handgun? Ammunition?

    Homeland Security officials say that even now, three years after the September 11 terrorist attacks prompted new security measures at airports, passengers continue to show up at the terminals carrying guns and bullets.

    Airport screeners find 2,000 bullets and 75 guns per month on passengers or in carry-on bags, said Mark Hatfield, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). At 450 airports across the country, an average of two guns per day are discovered.

    "The numbers are going up," Mr. Hatfield said.

    Nearly every case is accidental -- hunters forget to take ammo out of coat pockets and sportsmen forget to take guns out of bags after target practice or a trip to the skeet range, he said.

    A 79-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida after a single-shot Colt Derringer and seven bullets were found in her tote bag.

    The woman said she had placed the gun in a hollowed-out book in the bag months ago and had forgotten about it. She faces a penalty of up to five years in prison.

    "That underscores the importance of the need to screen everyone," TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said. "This continues to be a significant problem at checkpoints across the country."

    The National Rifle Association (NRA) is teaming up with the TSA on a public service campaign to remind its members to include guns and bullets in last-minute...

[hopespringseternal]

The first round to penetrate the fuselage would probably cause an explosive decompression that would not only suck people out the hole, it could cause enough damage to bring about catastrophic failure of the fuselage.

Do you really suppose there is such a shortage of stupidity and ignorance in the world that it is really necessary for you to come here and spread yours around?

[Tench_Coxe]

"A 79-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida after a single-shot Colt Derringer and seven bullets were found in her tote bag."....

While a middle Eastern looking man with a bulge around his chest, shouting 'Allah Akbar', was waved right through.

[TalonDJ]

EXACTLY! Only in movies do gun fights at close range involve dozens and even hundreds of bullets flying around. In reality most 'gun fights' don't involve any shots bing fired. Someone pulls a gun or just shows they have one and the 'fight' is over instantly. I really hate it when people in movies standing in a small room unload their weapons at each other and no one gets hit. They whould have to try to miss for that many bullets to miss.

[Poohbah]

Hey Poobah. Still souring milk for a hobby I see. I guess those poor clods and their "Let's Roll" comment were just hopeless, helpless idiots as well?

No, that was a tactical situation

Guns favor the few and organized over the many and unorganized. Melees without ranged weapons favor sheer numbers.

Considering how many of us "out here" are former military or retired/off duty law enforcement, your "out of my butt" stats are pessimistic enough to be utterly irrelavent.

Please read S.L.A. Marshall's Men Against Fire and rebut the facts contained therein.

[Poohbah]

EXACTLY! Only in movies do gun fights at close range involve dozens and even hundreds of bullets flying around. In reality most 'gun fights' don't involve any shots bing fired. Someone pulls a gun or just shows they have one and the 'fight' is over instantly.

So, the terrorists pull their guns...and the fight's over.

[Poohbah]

I really hate it when people in movies standing in a small room unload their weapons at each other and no one gets hit. They whould have to try to miss for that many bullets to miss.

You ever see LEO marksmanship?

[Poohbah]

Even 51%? ;-)

Not even that much. Back when cops carried six-guns, that may have been so--but in an era of high-cap autos, they've gone to "spray and pray."

[CDB]

Yes, the 737 "convertible."

[Dead Corpse]

So, the terrorists pull their guns...and the fight's over.

Yep. We all may as well just friggin' surrender right now.

[TalonDJ]

Self defense shootings are not the same as war. Come back with statistics about how law abiding people that chose to carry guns would react and the numbers will be rather different. Having the 'good guys' freeze up at first is not a problem. That just means either the some other passenger solved the issue before they became un froze and complicated it or else they become on frozen after the terrorist have fully announced themselves and picking targets will be easy. What is better? a hand full of dead terrorists and a couple wounded bystanders or September 11?

[TalonDJ]

LEO's don't get as much practice as the average citizen carrier.

[Walkin Man]

What do you think the odds are of that plane continuing to fly?

Pretty good if they use frangible ammo.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/frangible.htm

Frangible Ammunition

Frangible, or “soft,” rounds are designed to break apart when they hit walls or other hard surfaces to prevent ricochets during close-quarters combat. Frangible ammunition represents the first viable revolutionary change to firearms science in the past 100 years.

Frangible ammunition is a relatively recent development in bullets, presenting a departure from the standard projectiles in use for both range shooting and personal protection.

With the advent of modern hostage rescue tactics in the 1970s and 1980s, the military and police agencies began to look for ways to minimize overpenetration risks. One widely-accepted solution was the frangible round, also known as the AET (Advanced Energy Transfer) round.

Frangible rounds are available in a wide array of pistol calibers, but due to the inherently high velocities of rifle rounds, frangible ammunition is much less effective in rifles.

It is only produced in 5.56mm NATO and 7.62mm NATO, and its performance in actual combat is dubious. There are two frangible rounds that have been approved for training purposes only.

One is a 9mm, and the other a 5.56. Approval for operational use will depend on the special mission requirements (the military necessity) for the round.

Frangible bullets are not made from a lead projectile covered with a copper jacket, but are composites of hybrid materials either pressed together at high pressure or glued together with adhesives.

Frangible bullets are designed to break up into smaller pieces upon contact with harder objects or surfaces. The polymer-compound round produces no splashback and vastly decreased ricochets.

[snopercod]

I had my Uncle Henry 4" folding knife confiscated at ONT after inadvertently packing in in my briefcase (Hey, it was 5AM and I wasn't quite awake.) Same knife that I had worn on my belt when flying for over 20 years.

I sent the LA Airport Police an E-mail asking them to return it or compensate me under the 5th Amendment, but they never answered.

I never followed up because they can fine "troublemakers" $10,000 for what I did.

I have heard (but don't know for sure) that rather then confiscating "contraband", some places now let you mail it home for a fee.

I won't fly commercial any more except to funerals more than three days drive away.

[hopespringseternal]

"That underscores the importance of the need to screen everyone," TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said. "This continues to be a significant problem at checkpoints across the country."

Yes, we must make sure we absolutely destroy the people who didn't even know they had a gun in the first place.

[School of Rational Thought]

Urban myth.

Passing on an urban myth as fact is always a bad idea, regardless of who is tellin it or to whom.

[TalonDJ]

They caught my Uncle Henry folder one time pre 9/11 and they let me take it back to the check in and put it in my check bag. Once my mom few with a pair of sheath knives in her purse and they did not notice a thing.

[Tench_Coxe]

"You ever see LEO marksmanship?"

I was at an indoor pistol range in a major city some years back. I had shot in the public range, which was neat, orderly, and well kept. Because of an overflow on that particular day, I was allowed to shoot back in the range usually reserved for LEOs. From the torn sound insulation on the walls, to the marks on the ceiling, I had the impression that they were hitting anything but the target down range. Scary.

[TN4Liberty]

No doubt, a bag you had bought at a garage sale lo those many years ago.

[Poohbah]

Self defense shootings are not the same as war.

Actually, they are, but you'd rather not admit it...

Come back with statistics about how law abiding people that chose to carry guns would react and the numbers will be rather different.

Again, they won't. As you've pointed out, once the first gun's out, the fight is OVER...and the bad guys will be the ones drawing first.

Having the 'good guys' freeze up at first is not a problem.

How do you know? Have you ever outdrawn a man who's already pulled out a gun?

That just means either the some other passenger solved the issue before they became un froze and complicated it or else they become on frozen after the terrorist have fully announced themselves and picking targets will be easy.

I'd love to see all these macho-he-men show me, with a live-fire exercise, how they'd outdraw a guy who's already got his gun out and ready.

What is better? a hand full of dead terrorists and a couple wounded bystanders or September 11?

A far more likely result: a handful of dead terrorists, a bunch of dead passengers, including friendlies, macho-he-men puffing up to sing their victory song...

And the second wave of terrorists caps the macho-he-men, gain control of the aircraft, and we still have 9/11.

Unarmed melees favor the many over the few. Gunfights favor the organized over the unorganized. I'd prefer the former instead of the latter. Leave the guns in the cockpit as final protective fires.

[Poohbah]

LEO's don't get as much practice as the average citizen carrier.

Neither gets much practice dealing with adrenaline.