54 loaded guns seized at airports last week

[spanone]

The TSA announced a dubious record this week, reporting that it had seized 65 firearms at airport security checkpoints.
The seizures buried the previous mark of 50 guns, the TSA reported, and included 54 loaded weapons -- 19 of which at rounds chambered.

Among the seizures was a firearm strapped to the prosthetic leg of a male passenger at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Authorities said the passenger received a pat-down after an anomaly was detected during advanced imaging technology screening.

During the pat-down, officers discovered a fully loaded .22 caliber firearm inside the passenger's boot and strapped to his prosthetic leg.
The man was arrested by Salt Lake City Airport Police on a state charge of "carrying a concealed weapon in a secure area."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/25/18491498-54-loaded-guns-seized-at-airports-last-week?lite

[freshwest]

1. What about the Second Amendment? Paging Adam 'we don't need no stinking rules' Kokesh...

[Robb]

2. Had they not found the gun, we'd be calling the TSA monsters

...for singling out a man with a prosthetic leg.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

9. Who would be called "TSA monstors"? The TSA red team employees bringing the guns to test the other

TSA employees? Or the TSA employees who deal face to face with what is left of the flying public?

The TSA red team regularly conducts covert tests.

"The goal of the Red Team is to build tests that push the boundaries of our people, processes, and technology. We know that the adversary innovates and we have to push ourselves to capacity in order to remain one step ahead. With that said, our testers often make these covert tests as difficult as possible."

http://blog.tsa.gov/2013/03/clarification-on-covert-testing-at.html

It is theater, folks. Nothing to be afraid of. Just move along while the red team thinks up something else.

[uppityperson]

15. Huh? He set off an alarm so was checked, found a loaded gun. If horses were purple the sky would

I like cheesecake

[Arkansas Granny]

3. WTF? Did they just "forget" that they were packing?

[spanone]

4. not only packing, packing loaded

[freshwest]

6. It's necessary. Terrorists are underfoot everywhere.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. No. The TSA red team is paid to test other TSA employees by sneaking weapons onto planes.

They didn't forget.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Nothing in the article indicates that these were red team tests.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

18. Don't expect the TSA publicity team to include that. Wait for some of the disgruntled TSA bloggers

to reveal that.

[spanone]

19. i doubt the tsa would use loaded weapons....

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. Cartridges made without gunpowder look just like cartridges made with gunpowder.

Without actually making an attempt to fire the rounds, who can know whether they are real or not. What we know for certain is that TSA administrators have hired people to test the TSA employees who deal directly with the public. We also know, from common sense, that TSA administrators would like to make themselves look good.

Now, suddenly, so many people are carrying handguns to airports without being members of the TSA's Red Team? Somehow, I just don't think so.

[spanone]

21. why - doesn't appear to be suddenly

The seizures buried the previous mark of 50 guns, the TSA reported, and included 54 loaded weapons -- 19 of which at rounds chambered.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

22. Maybe they are improving in finding simulated efforts to smuggle guns aboard.

"Gaping Holes in Airline Security: Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA Screeners"
...
"Experts tell ABC News that every year since the September 11 terror attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert "red team tests," where undercover agents try to see just how much they can get past security checks at major U.S. airports. And while the Department of Homeland Security closely guards the results as classified, those that have leaked in media reports have been shocking.

"According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles's LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago's O'Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/loaded-gun-slips-past-tsa-screeners/story?id=12412458

"Red Team Secrets You Don't Want To Know"

Even more embarrassing are the "red team" tests the government uses to measure the effectiveness of the TSA airport security. While the results of these tests (where agents posing as passengers attempt to get weapons onto aircraft) are kept secret, the results often leak. Apparently even the government officials with access to the test results were outraged at the fact that the TSA screeners miss weapons most of the time.

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Red-Team-Secrets-You-Dont-Want-To-Know-12-29-2010.asp

Why the publicity at this point? Although you may or may not be skeptical, it may have something to do with the fact that the TSA is now complying with a Congressional directive to accept comments from the public regarding its activities.

"TSA public comments thus far: Anger, disgust expressed; constitutional issues raised"

"Mother Jones has a good post up today: America’s 14 Most Pissed-Off Comments on the TSA’s Airport Body Scanners.

"It’s heartening to see that at least some of my fellow lefties are calling attention (however obliquely) to these intrusive, ineffective, and potentially harmful machines. (I’m not sure, exactly, why or how liberals began to regard the matter of Fourth Amendment protections–not to mention common decency–as the exclusive domain of conservatives and libertarians. I for one refuse to passively stand by and watch as my rights, and those of my children, are violated by agencies whose salaries are paid with my tax dollars. And as readers are probably aware, I’m as left-leaning as it gets.)
...
http://tsanewsblog.com/10718/news/tsa-public-comments-thus-far-anger-disgust-expressed-constitutional-issues-raised/

[spanone]

23. and maybe not. maybe they are real people carrying real loaded guns into airports.

[Segami]

5. Is Ted Nugent on tour again?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

7. To believe this, a person has to trust those who misrepresent "feel-ups" as "pat-downs,"

and suspend all other disbelief regarding the harm that is done to this country in the name of "safety" and "security."

Some people will tolerate security-theater and any intrusion in the name of safety.

Some people will believe anything.

[SomethingFishy]

8. I have to admit it sure seems odd that

more than 50 people would be dumb enough to try to take a loaded weapon through airport security these days.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. TSA Red Team - See also "Red Team Secrets You Don't Want To Know"

"The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is criticized for their aggressive security at airports, where even young children and elderly people in wheelchairs are subjected to intrusive physical searches. Aside from the fact that this has driven an increasing number of people away from commercial aviation, it has also proved to be embarrassingly ineffective. This can be seen by those times when people admit that they accidentally carried weapons (knives or pistols) through the TSA security checks. Even more embarrassing are the "red team" tests the government uses to measure the effectiveness of the TSA airport security. While the results of these tests (where agents posing as passengers attempt to get weapons onto aircraft) are kept secret, the results often leak. Apparently even the government officials with access to the test results were outraged at the fact that the TSA screeners miss weapons most of the time. What hasn't been leaked are the methods the red teams use to conceal guns and knives. But the stories from people who accidentally left their pistol under some bit of electronic gear, or otherwise stowed a weapon in a certain fashion, indicates that you don't have to be too clever to outwit the TSA."

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Red-Team-Secrets-You-Dont-Want-To-Know-12-29-2010.asp

They are trying to generate publicity, and approval, for their security theater. Some people are actually falling for it.

[SomethingFishy]

13. Interesting, so I wonder if those were all "red team" guns

and how many they missed...

[SheilaT]

11. Wouldn't an old-fashioned metal detector

have worked just as well to find these guns?

I don't own any guns, and I know very little about them, but I'm pretty certain you don't forget you've got a firearm strapped to your prosthetic leg. I'm also not certain I believe the people who claim that the gun found in their carry-on luggage was one they'd forgotten was there.

On the other hand, I have genuinely forgotten that I'd put a corkscrew in my suitcase when I was travelling by car, and so the next time I flew it was taken from me. That's simply annoying. Not to mention stupid, both on my part that I'd overlooked the corkscrew, but also on the part of security that it's considered a dangerous weapon.

Guns? How do you forget you had a gun in your suitcase?

[Lordquinton]

16. This is what I was about to ask

How many of them could have been found with traditional means?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. The TSA Red Team has been able to get fake or real IEDs past regular TSA agents.

So that the regular TSA agents will feel justified in doing things like this:





The really found all those loaded guns? Brought to the airports by regular passengers instead of the Red Team?

Sooner or later, the claim from the TSA will be shown to be as fake as their claim that their "feel-ups" are "pat-downs."