Study Shows Airlines Now Safer For Terrorists
By Michael Parker 09.27.01
A recent test at Indianapolis International Airport has shown that in spite of heightened security measures, terrorists are perfectly capable of bringing weapons on board airplanes and now enjoy a far safer environment in which to work.
I know… I performed the test.
Flying this past weekend from Indianapolis to Tulsa via Memphis, I was stopped at Indianapolis International Airport's "A" terminal security checkpoint for a baggage search. Pretending for the moment that the Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution did not exist, I watched as three separate employees of Global Security ransacked my meager possessions under federal mandate without warrant or probable cause. What they found was a dull, one inch pocket knife in the outside zipper of my carry-on suitcase that I had simply forgotten to remove.
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four inch non-folding
carbon composite dagger  Click on Image for Full View |
Scared yet? It gets worse.
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a four inch steel bladed folding knife
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Scared yet? It gets worse.
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a concealed triangular bladed defense knife
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This is not some laboratory test, or a survey of what might have happened. This was me. Last weekend. In our home town. There is not the slightest doubt that had I been brave enough to take the risk, I could have toted a gun in my carry-on luggage on all six flights. This is not because security personnel are incompetent or lazy.
Rather, it is because they have been given an impossible task by a gutless Federal Aviation Administration which heeds neither the supreme law of the United States nor common sense. It is utterly impossible for Global Security or anyone else to disarm everyone all the time. Unbelievably, security personnel in Indianapolis actually picked up three of my weapons in their hands during the searches, but failed to recognize them. They weren't even close… and I went through the checkpoint twice within ten minutes.
Now, shall we throw out political correctness long enough to grasp a few uncomfortable yet undeniable truths?
Reality Check Number 1- Any terrorist who wants to bring a weapon on board an airplane will do so.
Although your average large mouth bass could figure it out with only marginal difficulty, this truth seems to have slipped past the FAA. It may not be politically correct. It may not be fashionable. It's certainly not comfortable. But it's true. Doubters are free to look in my suitcase. If we intend to combat terrorism, we must shake ourselves out of the ridiculous fantasy that criminals can be disarmed. They cannot. Living in denial will not help us. Any terrorist who wants a weapon on board an airplane will have one. The point is indisputable and non-negotiable. Until we work up the courage to deal with that reality, every other effort we make is tantamount to re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Reality Check Number 2: You cannot stop crime by disarming the future victims.
Terrorists now enjoy more safety than ever before. If I were a terrorist, I could easily have commandeered any of four different airplanes - this weekend alone - with the help of one or two co-conspirators. I could have armed as many as three other criminals with deadly weapons, and still kept the largest knife for myself. And most importantly, there was no need to smuggle a gun on board because all of my would-be victims had already been disarmed by FAA regulations.
I sat on board the Memphis to Tulsa flight and looked around at my fellow passengers. 150 helpless, pathetic sheep stripped of even the slightest ability to defend themselves. This was our answer to terrorism? We attempt to stop crime by disarming the future victims? I began to think of all the major targets available along my route. Chicago. Fort Benning. Dallas. My choice of a dozen NFL football games. Atlanta… college football… major league baseball… the list was endless. It slowly dawned on me that we are now far more susceptible to terrorism than ever before. We have adopted an ideology that was doomed to failure from the outset. We have given an impossible task to our security personnel.
We have created the perfect environment for terrorists… an environment where citizens are stripped of all self-defense mechanisms, and absolve themselves from the responsibility of self-defense by entrusting it to incompetent bureaucracy. Thanks to self-defeating federal airline regulations, we have fallen face-first into the trap laid by terrorists, who are now doubt falling out of their chairs laughing.
Reality Check Number 3: Americans will not tolerate Gestapo tactics.
If the airline industry collapses, it has only itself to blame. Strip searches, pat downs, luggage seizures and a total dismissal of federal privacy laws might be tolerated in China or Cuba. But not here. Americans are abandoning airlines in droves. And they aren't doing it because they're afraid of terrorists. They're doing it because they are not willing to sell out their liberties in exchange for the illusion of security. Regardless of the whiny, pitiful airline passengers shown on the nightly news begging for more "security," most Americans would still rather die standing than live on their knees. To misunderstand that is to misunderstand the fundamental premise of all that is American.
The American public will not tolerate the hassle, intrusion and inconvenience of fanatical security measures that offer no security. If airlines want passengers to come back and fly again, they should disregard FAA mandates and implement their own measures for genuine, effective security. Certainly, the FAA might retaliate with even more Gestapo tactics and try to shut down uncooperative airlines… but last I heard they were going out of business anyway.
Reality Check Number 4: Terrorists prepare in advance.
Obviously, the only way to stop hijackers dead in their tracks is to have qualified, armed personnel on board each and every flight in America and for the identity of those persons to be concealed. But who shall we arm? If we arm flight crews and air marshals, we can rest assured that future terrorists will begin immediate training to fill those positions. Sound far-fetched? Think again. Terrorists arrived in the USA years in advance of the September 11th attacks and took professional flight training in preparation for their work. To offer them guns after completion of their flight training only makes their jobs easier. And air marshals? The FAA readily admits that putting an air marshal on every flight is an impossibility. Believe it or not, the federal government is now accepting applications for air marshal positions, with preference given to disabled persons. Yes, I said "disabled persons," and no, that is not a misprint. If you expect any government agency to protect you from terrorists, your faith is tragically misplaced.
Reality Check Number 5: Ninety-three courageous people on board American Airlines flight 11 died because they were disarmed by FAA regulations.
We know without a doubt that the passengers who crashed near Pittsburgh on September 11th were aware of the situation, and that they fought valiantly to defend themselves. And we also know that they had been disarmed by our own government. Those ninety-three people did not die for lack of courage, or lack of effort. They died because they had no weapons. They were so thoroughly defenseless… so completely and utterly helpless… that every last one of them could be killed by four men with box cutters. Of course, we expect terrorists to be terrorists and to commit heinous acts. We do not expect them to be aided and abetted by our own Federal Aviation Administration, without whose regulations this act could likely never have been committed.
After considering some of the cold, hard facts of air travel, there emerges one clear plan so obvious that even a bureaucrat could see it. Holders of private concealed carry permits should be able to travel on commercial aircraft while armed. Air marshals cannot possibly man all domestic flights for protection, but millions of concealed carry permit holders certainly could. Air marshals will have to undergo lengthy background checks by the FBI and state officials before being put on duty. Concealed carry permit holders have already passed complete background checks. New air marshals will have to be trained in the use of firearms. Concealed carry permit holders already have been. New air marshals will have to have fingerprints taken and filed with the proper authorities. Concealed carry permit holders have already done that, too. New air marshals will cost millions of dollars in new taxes and take months or years to train. Concealed carry permit holders can start tomorrow, and will work for free. New air marshals will have to purchase and train with millions of dollars in new weapons. Concealed carry permit holders already have those weapons and are already proficient in their use. According to Newsweek Magazine, state agents fire on innocent civilians in more than 11% of their shootings. Concealed carry permit holders make the same mistake less than 2% of the time.
The answer is obvious, even to the most fanatical, fearmongering pessimist. Alas, it is also politically incorrect, and few politicians have the courage to break away from the path of least resistance. It's easier to let ninety-two helpless people die than to face an election year on the wrong side of a controversial topic.
So next time you get frisked at an airport security check point or have your luggage dumped out on the counter, remember this: you have sold your most precious freedoms for the false illusion of security, and got nothing in return. You can rest assured that any terrorist on your airplane will most certainly be armed in whatever way he sees fit.
I know. I already did it.