“Airport screeners established a new record last week when they stopped passengers from boarding planes with 73 firearms in carry-on luggage,” foxnews.com reports. Wow! Even the Rabbi wouldn’t carry 73 firearms! Anyway, “The Transportation Security Administration officials said the number was reached in the seven days ending April 21 and the haul surpassed the previous high of 68 set in October.” But wait! That’s not the half of it (apparently) . . .
After confiscating the 73 firearms, TSA carry-on screeners made a startling discovery: 68 of the weapons were loaded and more than two dozen had a round in the chamber, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported Saturday.
I’m startled too! Why would “more than” 24 gun owners carry their weapon without a round in the chamber? Is Israeli carry really that popular? That’s dangerous! Anyway, the TSA wants you to know why they’re so concerned about these gun owners, none of which were arrested on any charges involving a direct threat to anyone:
“Unfortunately, these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent, which is why we talk about these finds,” the TSA’s Bob Burns said, according to the paper.
“Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the line is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a penalty as high as $11,000,” Burns said.
So the TSA is troubled because the inadvertent gun schleppers delay the smooth flow of passengers and could end up paying steep fines, not to mention – at all – the possibility of losing their gun rights forever.
And thank you Fox/TSA for highlighting a case where one miscreant didn’t have a license to carry. Oh the humanity!