By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The TSA reported that a record 73 firearms were found in carry-on luggage last week, setting a 73-year-old record for most guns found in such a short period.
Newsy reports that most of the guns were loaded, and 27 had a round in the chamber.
What’s unclear is how many guns made it onto the plane without security noticing. A report last year from that the TSA failed to find an alarming number of prohibited items.
At the time, the TSA had a 95% failure rate of identifying smuggled mock weapons and explosives.
People caught with a firearm in a carry-on face arrest and fines between $1,500 and $7,500.
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People leaving their guns in their carry-ons are idiots. Harmless idiots.
What’s more interesting is that the number of people who are prosecuted by the TSA as terrorists is classified. The reason is that none of these people is likely to be prosecuted at all. The classified truth is that passenger and baggage screening just doesn’t catch terrorists. Security professionals know that TSA screening is really just to allay the fears of our paranoid grandparents. Security professionals know that even if TSA screening were 100% effective, a better way to get a gun past security would be to pay off an underpaid airport employee.
It’s a shame that we’re pissing away all this money on a Federal jobs program that isn’t needed. Not sure? Again, look at the prosecutions and ask yourself if the program is worth it.