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| Guns, Chain Saws Seized from Air Passengers |
| 2003-08-28 |
| U.S. airport baggage screeners, displaying seized chain saws, machetes and knives, warned travelers to check their luggage for offensive objects before boarding a flight. Chain saws? Officials of the Transport Security Administration, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Labor Day holiday -- a busy travel time -- said that since February 2002 more than 7.5 million prohibited items had been seized. They included 50,000 box cutters -- a weapon said to be used by the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers -- and 1,437 firearms as well as 2.3 million knives. I used to always carry a small pocket knife, but who knew that box cutters were such a popular item? Since the Sept. 11 attacks screeners have confiscated seemingly harmless items like nail clippers and cigarette lighters from passengers. But some carry more obviously dangerous items. Chain saws, a weed cutting machine, hand saws and machetes, steak knives, bottles of camping stove fuel and perfume bottles shaped like hand grenades were among items displayed as a sample of objects seized at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. "Mr. Jason, would you please remove the hockey mask and please explain how the chain saw and machete got in your carry on bag?" While some carry-on items may have been innocent -- a hockey stick or a child’s plastic sword -- other discoveries by TSA have yielded razor blades in tennis shoes and a bayonet hidden in a hollowed-out artificial leg. I’d want to have a good long talk with pegleg. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 I always check in my chain saw. Makes the boarding process a lot smoother. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-8-28 10:23:21 PM |
| #2 Anybody that thinks a machete is a more effective weapon than a hockey stick never saw Dale Hunter play. Realistically, even if peg leg sucessfuly smuggles a baynet onboard, how will that help in when I attack him with the eating tray that I rip off the seat in front of me. Even if he fires up a Poulan, it will be a simple matter to choose and sacrifice one of my fellow passengers. Likely candidates would be: the idiot who persists in reclining his chair onto my kneecap or my friendly row-mate who wants to tell me about his day |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-8-28 10:09:35 PM |
| #1 When I was a stockboy in high school, I used to always have a boxcutter or two in my pockets. It's like nerds & pocket-protectors - part of the regalia. Of course, I have to wonder how many stockers are likely to be taking regular flights anywhere - it isn't the best-paying job in the world. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2003-8-28 10:42:10 AM |