Posted on 04/04/2002 6:50:19 AM PST by SLB
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - (AP) -- Three passengers in their 70s were arrested and later released in separate incidents at Palm Beach International Airport for allegedly trying to board flights while carrying knives.
Security screeners found the knives in carry-on luggage during routine checks early Wednesday, airport sheriff's deputies said.
Authorities charged each traveler with carrying a concealed weapon, a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in the county jail and a $1,000 fine. The FBI declined to press federal charges.
According to sheriff's records, Harold Shepard, 71, of New York, told deputies he was not carrying knives. Officers said they arrested Shepard after finding a knife with a 7 ½-inch blade in a box that was taped shut. He was later released from jail on $250 bond.
In the other incidents, Elizabeth Napleton, 76, of Illinois, and Stanley Reinhart, 79, of California, were issued notices to appear in court and allowed to board their flights. Authorities did not release their hometowns.
Napleton told deputies that she had meant to check the briefcase containing the knives, but later decided to bring it on the plane, authorities said.
Reinhart was stopped while carrying a steak knife with a 5-inch blade packed in his shaving kit, authorities said. Reinhart said he had just driven across the country and had kept the knife to cut his food while he was staying in hotels.
Your in Kentucky, I am in Cal. That means I would need to fly there. Sorry, get a good spray gun and compressor, make the job easy on yourself. I do hope the weather is good enough for you to paint this weekend though.
Armed citizens are nice, but armed citizens are the last line of defense in war, not the first. Make no doubt about it, this is war. These guys want to destroy the country. In every war we've ever fought, even the Revolution, the citizens were the final line. And the problem with this war is that the front is whichever plane these guys try to take, and we won't know the war is even on until it's far too late.
This isn't the hijacking of the 70s, we're not talking about having a hundred people scared and inconvenienced and maybe 1 or 2 killed. We're talking about having buildings knocked down, thousands dead, economy F'd up for months. Hardcore no nonsense acts of war. If we were still dealing with 70s style hijackers you'd be right. But that time is gone. The new time is that we have hundreds of guided missiles in the air at all times and security, layered security that starts as far away from the plane as possible and ends in the cockpit, is how you keep them from going off.
Those folks just had their 2nd Amendment rights VIOLATED because the charge of "weapons possession" is starkly counter to "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
When someone is he11-bent on crashing an airliner, armed citizens ARE the last line of defense in that war.
Liquor store roberies happen every day in this country, frequently they involve the murder of employees or customers. In cities that aknowledge the sanctity of the 2nd Ammendment they don't happen as often, and the bloodshed is more frequently the blood of the robber. But even in those places the worst does happen. Why? Lots of reasons, maybe nobody is armed but the bad guy, frequently people go tharn during a robery, some of us aren't as corageous as we think and when in a mass of people will wait for someone else to be the hero.
It's reasonable to expect that if we allowed armed citizens on planes we'd see the same kind of variations in reaction. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. As a last line of defense that's pretty cool. But as the only line of defense... it's seriously lacking.
Thank you for noticing,but don't expect to hear the media report on this. This is another example of "stealth" gun control.
It's in Memphis,and it's spelled "Graceland".
BINGO!
I was carrying a shotgun and shells to school in the early 1960's to go duck hunting with after school. Even carried it on the school bus a couple of times.
If life scares you that much,how do you ever manage to cross a street? Wouldn't you be happier living in one of those surplus underground missle silos the gooberment was selling in Nebraska?
BTW,there is a 100% chance you WILL end up dying.
---max
You are one seriously confused individual. How can you "absolutely believe" that you have a right to bear arms but only in certain places?. If that is the case, then the right to bear arms is not a right, but a priviledge.
Knives nor sharp objects did not cause the events of 9/11, federal rules allowed it to happen.
How does it feel to be considered a terrorist?.
---max
Agreed. This is why I always carry a can of hair spray and a BIC lighter in my carry on luggage. You can never be too prepared. Comes in handy at ad hoc barbeques as well.
---max
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