I don’t consider it a serious crime when an otherwise law-abiding American forgets to remove his everyday carry firearm from his carry on luggage at the airport. The fact that the TSA’s blue-shirted goons intercepted 3,957 guns in 2017 — a new record for the agency! — does nothing to keep me up at night (I leave that to my gf). You might even consider it a victory in the sense that . . .
the statistic indicates that more Americans are carrying firearms than ever before. Or more Americans who carry a firearm are getting old and forgetful. Yes well, add former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to that list. cbsnews.com:
Barbour — Republican National Committee chairman in the mid-1990s and governor from 2004-12 — tells The Associated Press on Wednesday he was trying to board a flight Jan. 2 from Jackson to Washington.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says a TSA officer at a checkpoint X-ray machine spotted a .38 caliber revolver, loaded with five bullets, in a carry-on bag. TSA contacted airport police, who arrested the former governor.
Who treated the former Governor with all the respect a Louisiana governor turned paid lobbyist deserves.
Barbour said he did not dispute Farbstein’s use of the word “arrest,” though he said he was not handcuffed and no mug shot photo was taken. Barbour described the TSA officers and the airport police as “very nice but very professional.”
“They did exactly what they should have done, which was treat me like anybody else,” Barbour said.
I’d buy that for a dollar! Anyway . . .
It is irresponsible to carry a gun where you are not legally allowed to do so. Assuming you’re not a Mississippi governor turned paid lobbyist, the mistake endangers your gun rights and makes gun owners look bad to [both of] the firearms freedom fence sitters.
That also assumes you’re not doing so on purpose. Which is not a great idea at airport security, but there are other places where such a thing could happen. I mean, you might very well think that but I couldn’t possibly comment.