Goodnight slowboat.
Rest well.
Worth Repeating...
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595103854,00.html
Monday, November 8, 2004
"Salt Lake airport nabs weapons galore
Officials at checkpoints have seized 185,078 during past 3 years"
Copyright 2004 Deseret Morning News
By Lee Davidson
Deseret Morning News
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Security checkpoints at Salt Lake City International Airport seized an astounding 185,078 potential weapons from passengers over the past three years — including 75,000 knives, 157 firearms and 400 explosives.
Knives, scissors, shotgun shells and assorted tools are among the 185,078 items officials have seized at the Salt Lake airport.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Morning News
That is an average of 190 such items confiscated each day.
It also means that, on average, one of every 73 passengers who worked through checkpoints in that time surrendered some sort of potential weapon.
That is according to U.S. Transportation Security Administration data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Deseret Morning News. It covers the period from February 2002 through September 2004.
Earl Morris, federal security director at the airport, said he is not surprised that 185,000 items were seized there in that period — which would have been enough to arm every passenger on 979 separate, filled-to-capacity Boeing 737s.
"Actually, we take several hundred items on most days of the week" at security checkpoints, Morris said.
"And that's only part of it. We actually find many more. But we allow people who inadvertently bring a pocketknife or something to mail it back to themselves," he says. "They can go to the gift shop and buy an envelope and stamps and bring it back. We put the item in the envelope and seal it while they watch, and then mail it."
Even with so many potential weapons discovered, the Salt Lake City Airport Police arrested only 63 people (about one every two weeks) in that period for charges related to attempting to smuggle weapons through checkpoints, said Barbara Gann, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports."