Posted on 09/10/2010 5:47:46 PM PDT by george76
Amtrak spokesperson Cliff Cole would like to inform you that the company doesn't conduct searches because there's an actual threat. That would be silly!
Instead they do it randomly, you know, just to make sure you're paying attention.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
“We’ve been doing random searches for years,” said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole. “None have been in response to particular threats. It’s more to show force.
“We like to keep them a surprise.”
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100908/NEWS01/9080330/PATCO-riders-undergo-search
DRPA hired eight new police officers... The move was funded with a $700,000 federal Homeland Security grant.
“We can conduct any kind of search we want,” said Delaware River Port Authority Police Chief David McClintock. “We could ask TSA to bring wands or X-ray machines like they have in airports
Well, just don’t ride the damn thing.
Willie Green isnt going to like this post :)
Have to make sure those old people and tiny children aren’t planning terrorist bomb attacks.
I feel so safe with Amtrak....
And next year, when the grant money is gone...??? Will DRPA fire the new officers? Hope for attrition? Or go begging to the taxpayers to bloat their budget?
Allll Aboard.
Now have a seat on the probin stool and put your ankles in the stirrups....
So do those two riders on any given train flip a coin to see who gets searched every day?
It is a good thing Homeland Security is using that patriot act to “protect American freedom.” We would not want our officials’ fear of jihad to cause them to strip freedom from Americans (aka potential domestic terrorists). :)
Just out of curiosity, is it even illegal to carry a gun on an Amtrak train (assuming you have a concealed carry permit for the state the train is running in.)
Do they have a process for checking firearms in baggage, as airlines do?
Any Freepers have any experience with this. I certianly don’t remember being screened the last time I rode the train.
Know what else? They don’t have seatbelts and you can walk around in the car anytime you want. No matter how violently the car is shaking.
Funny. Government run and no seatbelts. In airplanes, the Government makes you put on seatbelts before it pushes back from the jet way. Go figure.
Buses, trains, and planes are forbidden.
I found this from a year ago. No idea what happened to it. Also, it doesn’t seem like Amtrak policies have the force of law. At most, it appears, they can refuse to carry you. That’s not the same as an airport where you are subject to arrest if you show up at the gate with a gun.
Senate passes measure to allow gun transport on Amtrak
September 16, 2009|By Evan Glass CNN
One senator says the measure “is going to put a severe burden” on Amtrak.Amtrak would lose its federal subsidies if it doesn’t put a system in place by early next year to check and track firearms so that passengers can legally put the weapons in their checked baggage, the Senate voted Wednesday.
The measure, an amendment to the transportation and housing appropriations bill, passed 68-30.
The House version of the bill, passed in July, does not include the provision, so further steps would be needed for it to reach President Obama’s desk.
Amtrak’s current policy prohibits passengers from carrying “any type of gun, firearm, ammunition, explosives or weapon” in carry-on or checked baggage.
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Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said firearms had been allowed in checked baggage before the September 11 attacks.
However, despite the policy change, the company has no uniform system of screening for firearms, Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper noted in a letter to Sens. Patty Murray and Christopher Bond decrying Wednesday’s congressional mandate. They are the top Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee.
“Unlike the airline industry, Amtrak has no system in place for a uniform system of screening for weapons,” Carper wrote. The railroad has no secure loading areas, and trains make multiple stops, he said. Employees also would need intensive training.
Further, he said, the National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak) has neither the money nor the time to meet the Senate’s timetable to put such a system in place.
Carper warned that if Amtrak were to lose federal funds, it would result in the “cessation of all Amtrak service nationwide.”
According to its Web site, Amtrak has in place “a range of behind-the-scenes and front-line security measures” that include random passenger and carry-on baggage screening; checked baggage screening; K-9 units; onboard security checks; and identification checks.
“As part of our security strategy, randomly selected passengers and their baggage, handbags, backpacks or other personal items may be screened or inspected,” it says.
“Passengers failing to consent to security procedures will be denied access to trains and refused carriage, and a refund will be offered.”
The gun measure was sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi.
He introduced the same legislation in August as part of the budget resolution, and it was approved with bipartisan support, but the provision was removed during final House-Senate negotiations.
In the state of Missouri, boarding a bus with a dangerous or deadly weapon is guilty of a class C felony, according to Section 578.305, Subsection 4. I thought this was federal law, but it’s Missouri law. It never really mattered to me; I’m not going to ride any bus because of it.
Unfortunately, a CCW endorsement does not override this law.
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