When a police officer brought a gun through security and took an international flight he realized his mistake on arrival. The TSA didn’t catch him. Same with the marine who brought 40 rounds of ammunition through security. Several air marshals have forgotten their loaded guns in the bathroom post-security.
So when the TSA catches a knife, a gun, or a stuffed animal with a toy gun, they call it a ‘good catch’ and it usually makes the TSA’s instagram account.
Whether it’s singer Rick Derringer being arrested at security with a gun or rapper Coolio being arrested with a stolen gun at a checkpoint, there’s a penalty. Generally fines for bringing a firearm through the checkpoint range from $500 to $2000, whether intentional or not.
But what about when the gun is brought through the checkpoint by a TSA screener?
The gun was found in the man’s lunchbox as he went through screening Friday morning at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. All ‘standard procedure’.
“The individual reported for work, and as is standard procedure went through security screening, where a firearm was detected,” said McCarthy. “The firearm was located in a sort of ‘lunchpail,’ where the individual had packed a meal in a sort of backpack.”
Kim Jong Un Tours Security In the Pyongyang Domestic Terminal
The screener wasn’t charged because, according to the TSA, “there was no harm intended.” Instead a TSA spokesman says it’s simply being handled as “a personnel matter.”
(HT: petaluma1)
Not the first time this has happened-search for Alvin Crabtree in Denver.
BTW-what is the relationship between the story & the picture of Kim Jong Un?
So I can use this as a defense if I accidentally forget my concealed handgun in my backpack next time I fly. I’m all for concealed carry and understand that people can forget to take a gun out of luggage before traveling. I would like to know what excuse a TSA employee has for doing so? I also think airports should offer a secure way to check handguns in a locker system of some type.
I’m not sure what scares me the most. The fact that our airport TSA security force is unarmed or the fact that they could be.
I’m amazed that an employee of an organization who has broken the laws his own organization is meant to enforce, whether intentional or not, is not held to a higher standard and, therefore, given the maximum punishment for the violation. The purported intent should be irrelevant. Unfortunately, this further undermines the credibility of the TSA.
@txrus – the photo is intentional, the connection is meant to be pointed yet not explicit. i’ll provide a hint though, this is a story about a two-tiered society where government’s favored groups are treated one way and citizens in general treated a different way.
Your headline says man, but the TSA statements seem to go out of the way to use gender-neutral nouns like “individual” and “employee”. Perhaps the worker was a woman?