Reader Offshoreaj writes:
I just flew from Vegas to Little Rock with my family and my Ruger 9mm. Check-in at Vegas was normal, but they said I’d have to retrieve the bag with the pistol inside at the Little Rock Delta baggage office, not at baggage claim.
The Little Rock Delta agent was very nice and explained she’d have to secure the pistol before letting me have the bag. She also said these new procedures just went into effect within the last few days.
Attached are pics of what was done to secure the pistol. She said the same (two zip ties) would be done to a rifle case and one zip tie would be used on a pistol case. This is the TSA response to the Ft. Lauderdale airport shooting.
So if this is, in fact, a new TSA procedure, all baggage containing firearms will be zip-tied in order to prevent passengers from accessing the contents while still in the airport. But wait…and we’re just spitballing here…what’s to prevent a determined wack-o like the Ft. Lauderdale shooter from cutting off the zip ties after retrieving the bag and before leaving the terminal?
Offshoreaj could have packed a folding knife in one of the external compartments of his bag where it could easily be reached, zip ties or no. It take teams of top men — top…men — to dream up this kind of security theater.