Saturday, December 03, 2011

I don't Fault the Police....TSA Edition

So, the girl could not get on the plane, because her purse had a little plastic gun glued onto it. TSA said it was a "replica gun," which is illegal. The girl missed her plane, because of the hassle. (May I point out that the "girl" is unmarried, pregnant, and arrived at the security checkpoint less than 30 minutes before her flight left...?)

Everybody, as usual, is all mad at the police. They should use their discretion better! Surely this was a mistake!

Had a talked with La Skarbek yesterday at a reception, on just this question. It is WRONG to criticize the police. If you want a police state, with a bunch of intrusive laws, this is what you get. It is not an abuse of power, it is just the fact of power. Saying "that's not what we meant!" after the fact is idiotic. If you don't want to go to Chicago, don't get on that train.

Here is what the law says (the relevant parts, anyway):

Items prohibited from aircraft cabins:

The following items will not be allowed through the security checkpoint. Please note that this list is not all-inclusive. In addition to items specifically listed here other items that may be deemed to present a potential threat may also be prohibited.

...
Replica weapons
...
Toy transformer robots (this toy forms a toy gun)
Toy weapons


That thing, on her purse: that is a three dimensional gun. It is not a design. It is a glued on plastic piece. Is the TSA stupid for preventing it?

No, the law is stupid for outlawing it. I believe that TSA actually promulgated this regulation, but I could not easily find the underlying statute.

Here is an actual video, used at Glacier International Airport in Montana. Imagine if you had to work all day in security, and heard this several hundred times. You would be WISHING you had a gun so you could kill yourself.
I like when the guy cuddles the metal detector.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you ever fault individuals acting under orders? Since Nuremberg is cliched, say the pilot of the Enola Gay.

In my view, individuals are either self-responsible or they aren't.

Blame the cops and the law.

Anonymous said...

Agree with Anon above...why can you not believe that the law is incredibly stupid and that the individuals enforcing the stupid law are also at fault?

You say this like it's the only other option: "If you want a police state, with a bunch of intrusive laws, this is what you get. It is not an abuse of power, it is just the fact of power. Saying "that's not what we meant!" after the fact is idiotic."

I never asked for a police state, so do I get to complain?

Tom said...

"If you want a police state, ...this is what you get." That's a slippery pronoun, "you", that you got there. Clearly some people do want laws like these, but some others -- like myself and a certain Duke professor that I greatly respect -- are working to prevent ALL this madness.

As for "a three dimensional gun", it's more of a bas relief, actually. Which brings me to this: some people enjoy exercising authority, whether petty or not, and some people. use a bit of common sense.