In what can only be described as a uniquely American problem, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) prevents thousands of people each year from boarding flights with guns. That’s not an exaggeration, as the number was well over 6,000 in 2022.
Continue reading: TSA Catches Flight Attendant With Loaded Gun
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@Ben Schlappig:
"...personally I don’t really “get” guns..."
What's not to "get" about guns? What's so hard to understand?
They are tools, just like a hammer or a chainsaw or a lawnmower and are used for things like hunting, competitive target shooting, and, most commonly, personal defense.
Just as there are a few people who will use a hammer or a chainsaw or a lawnmower improperly, so it is with guns; it's simply the way the world works.
And just as some people must, either by choice or by necessity, choose to pound their own nails, trim their own trees, or mow their own laws, some people are required, mostly by necessity, to own guns. After all, if our elected and appointed officials are unable to guarantee a modicum of security for it's citizens, then those citizens are forced to do it themselves.
Sort of like how one gets out one's chainsaw out after a big storm and clears away the fallen trees and limbs - the government ain't gonna do it for ya and it's got to be done.
Perhaps you can create a table showing innocent deaths per year by
Lawnmovers
Hammers
Guns
2nd amendment does not include the right to bring a gun past a TSA check point.....
he doesn't get why so many Americans are obsessed with them. Neither do most people outside of the US to be honest
You're a republican American member of the NRA obviously. Lol. Civilised people don't need guns.
When was the last time there was a mass murder with a lawnmower or hedge clipper ?
Another dumb gun loon. You don’t need a gun, let alone at an airport or supermarket. If you have to have one go and live in the Alaska wilderness.
The US constitution is generally completely out of step with the 21st. century. Just because they did something in the 1800s doesn’t make it acceptable now.
If I was the TSA I don't know if I'd be celebrating this one. More than likely she brought past the checkpoint in Arizona and quite possibly many more. To me it illustrates the failure of the known crew member program. With the TSA starting to require airport staff to be screened maybe it's time to do the same for aircrew again.
Lol - now - more than ever - is the type of times the folks who wrote the constitution had in mind when it came to the reasons behind the 2nd amendment.
This is America, I mean the United States on the verge of failure in every way possible. The house of cards will fall sooner than later.
She thought it was bring your gun to work day. If only having a firearm required intelligence.
The men who wrote the Constitution would have fainted in shock upon seeing a base model Kohler toilet in operation. Whatever you think they would have thought about "these times" is almost certainly incorrect.
Title of article is misleading. TSA does not have authority to arrest. That is handled by local police.
Biggest question is, how did she get gun from Arizona to Philly airport??
How many times has there been a school shooting involving a lawn mower or a hammer. Moron. I’d wager you’re “pro-life” too..
A large number, I suspect majority , of gun owners are pro life yet happy to go around killing people and animals without understanding irony. They often have Christian and love in their social media bios, and hate everybody that isn’t Christian, Caucasian and heterosexual.
Well, for knowing absolutely nothing about me, at least you got one out of three right but, at least for the time being, that's a failing grade even in Murica.
You're right, American by birth and Texan by the grace of God but not a Republican (I'm fiscally more conservative than damn near any of those RINOS and socially liberal enough to make even the libtards in Kalifornien blush), and don't belong to the NRA because I don't currently own any firearms.
But the writing is on the wall and on the television all the time: it's time for every right-thinking, law-abiding American to arm up.
That would be pointless since neither lawnmowers, hammers, nor guns kill people - people kill people.
If I really had to make a table, I'd prefer to make one showing where innocent lives were saved by right-thinking folks who were armed and manged to save their own lives and the lives of their families or innocent bystanders. Herculean task but easily enough done, but the lamestream media won't be any help on THAT.
Perhaps it would help you to understand human nature by watching the opening sequence of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey" paying particular attention to the part where one ape kills another with a club.
Shall we next outlaw clubs, stones, and sharp-edged tools because they've been used over the millennia to kill, without question, a helluva lot more people than guns have?
Well, of course I'm pro-life and happy and thankful every day that my mother was as well.
I've never understood the system of morality in which some humans believe it's acceptable to deprive another sentient being, especially the weak and the innocent, of life.
But I don't dwell on it since every human walks the path to enlightenment on their own and in their own time and they as well "own" their kamma and the results thereof.
C'mon now, you don't REALLY believe that individual liberty and a workable system of checks-and-balances upon the power of the State to crush an individual EVER becomes not acceptable, do you?
Really?
Criminals will get guns regardless. We need to stay safe because of them. Allowing safe people to have fun doesn't increase mass murders now. It's too late for that .
@ben your theories of smuggling in etc doesn't apply here because it was loaded .
It would have been empty ...
Don't pretend that the Constitution was drafted to protect individual liberty when it took nearly a hundred years and a civil war for it to finally abolish slavery
Fascinating how millions - if not billions - of people every year use hammers and lawnmowers - "tools" that could be used for "self defense" if needed - and yet, tens of thousands of people are, somehow, not killed by them. But guns - also "tools" that could be used for "self defense" - seem to be involved when tens of thousands of people are killed. The "people kill people" defense is utter bull**** - the data is there. If we didn't have guns, do you really think there'd be an epidemic of hammer killings? Knife killings? Lawnmower or other "tools" killings? Guns are "tools" meant to kill, and folks who hide behind "self defense" as the reason to have them are being intellectually disingenuous when the data shows that most shootings resulting in death are not a result of self defense. So yeah, it's hard to "get" guns when they exist to kill. Here's a bunch of sources with data on it: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-threats-and-self-defense-gun-use-2/
@Gentleman Jack Darby
"That would be pointless since neither lawnmowers, hammers, nor guns kill people - people kill people."
In the age of automation and artificial intelligence, I doubt that statement would stand forever.
But an obsolete dinosaur like you wouldn't understand.
I thought flight attendants already travel with a more devastating weapon everyday.
"Do as I say or get kicked off"
@Mark - "2nd Amendment??? Duh"
Wait, you're saying she's part of a well-regulated militia?
@Charle - "Lol - now - more than ever - is the type of times the folks who wrote the constitution had in mind when it came to the reasons behind the 2nd amendment."
What type of times are those? When black folk have the temerity to become President? And women no longer know their place? And teh Gays are all up in your face? Please, spell out exactly what type of "times" you find so threatening right now, in a time of record low crime rates and few external threats to America's security, that you feel you must own a gun.
"I've never understood the system of morality in which some humans believe it's acceptable to deprive another sentient being, especially the weak and the innocent, of life."
You mean like someone who isn't actively carrying a firearm? That's most of us. Don't pull that commandment on us unless you're willing to be consistent.
Firearms are only for "self-defense" as a means and deterrent by ending someone else's life. There's no other way to rationalize it.
Wow. The US is on the verge of failure?? Let's hope you're wrong since the US becoming a failed state would undoubtedly tank the global economy and certainly accelerate the progression to the next world war!
You should change your screen name to something more fitting because you are in *no way* a Gentleman. A fully functioning adult doesn't use any form of the word "tard." Only infantile bigots are so insecure that they feel the need to call someone a name that offensive.
You write about your care for the weak and the innocent, yet you use the word "tard" to describe another human being. If you have a moment, Google "irony." You might learn something.
What ? Carrying a gun ? Yes. That’s normal lol She knew it and had no excuse. A potential threat and should be prosecuted. Although in the US they would rather prosecute someone in drag rather than someone carrying a weapon.
Another stupid comment from an American. You don’t need guns. The civilised world manages. You would rather have guns than universal healthcare and you paid sick leave. And apparently drag queens pose a greater threat than some hick walking around Main Street with a gun.
That was my thought too, which would make motivation easier to understand:
Perhaps she regards it as sensible to always have a loaded gun in her car E.g. between home and airport in Arizona.
Didn't want to leave it in the car unattended, so took it with her.
Might even usually not take it when flying, but forgot to leave it at home for that particular car journey.
Or indeed the motivation might have been more been airport and hotel, and in hotel, in Philly?
Until a drag Queen walks into a school and beats up kids with a copy of to kill a mocking bird, gun obsessed yanks are focused on the wrong thing
@Huh?? It must be hard to be informed, instead of having knee-jerk reactions based on the talking heads on TV.
U.S. violent and property crime rate have plunged since 1990s, regardless of data source.
@ Ben
The founding fathers realized that there were tyrannical governments in the world and if a free society was to be sustainable the society must be armed in order to rebel against same. There is no one in another country that would understand the wisdom of our founding fathers. The importance of the second amendment is the ability to rebel against a tyrannical government. It also gives citizens the right to protect themselves, without restrictions from the government. The Second Amendment also allows us to protect ourselves from foreign and domestic attacks, if the government won't. I am not a gun owner but support all that are, including close relatives. Forget all your hammer and chain saw shit, this republic was founded on the ability of the populace to change the government by force if necessary. All of you commenting from outside the US (and many of the students in progressive liberal states) have not have been educated on the constitution and would not understand. The society has to pay a price for the second amendment in the crazies and evil people out there, but what no one takes into consideration is that criminals don't obey any laws.
Most likely the FA had it in their bag (unknowingly) when the trip started from home (Phoenix) and went thru Known Crewmember, so was not searched.
Had a Philly layover, then reported for work the next day and got sent to random and the gun was discovered
This gun issue is a cancer.
Very sad. Yes, you have a right to own a gun (not a semi-automatic, tho).
We are not living in 1776 America.
We are a joke in the world and to ourselves that we are so brazen to continue in this lifestyle.
If someone is so paranoid that someone will kill them, then it will be through the internet, not with a simple gun.
@Stan Ferris
You make a very very good point. Spot on, nail in the coffin.
Now remind me again how citizens are suppose to protect ourselves from governments, foreign and domestic, armed with missiles, stealth fighters (so stealthy, even the owners couldn't find it), tanks, or nuclear weapons. If you think you're in a free society why couldn't you own machine guns or cruise missiles.
And by the way, "the ability of the populace to change the government by force if necessary" is by your understanding, what happened on January 6?
So are they criminals who don't obey any laws or rebel against a tyrannical government.
Who get's to determine what is the tyranny, who writes the law.
Or as one famous Judge named Dredd use to say, "I am the law".
You seem to understand what the 2nd amendment is trying to say a few hundred years ago. You just seem to forget the evolution of society over those hundred years happened too.
Ben doesn't "get" guns.
Most folks don't "get" avgeeks aimlessly flying about either.
I don't have to. You do all the work for me, starting with your name 'TravelinPenis'....Ooooooh, sicker burn!
(Yeah, sometimes we bite back LOL)
What’s worse? Intentionally attempting to bring a gun past TSA or “forgetting” you had the gun itself?
Should a stupid American that doesn’t even realise he/she is carrying have access to guns?
@ All. I've lost a few brain cells reading this. I find it interesting though that Jack mentions letting people do as they please and yet, his opposition does does not reciprocate the same feelings. If you look statistically, there is no question that there are a lot more defensive uses of firearms than "offense" uses (ie women protecting themselves from this "rape culture" i am hearing all about, etc). Additionally, everyone of these mass shootings you see (or alternatively, insurections), they were stopped either directly through or via the threat of... you guesses it... a gun. Btw, The definition of a mass shooting was changed not too long ago (spoiler, it was lowered). San bernadio terrorist attacks.... wait for it... classified as a mass shooting, not a terrorist attack.
She could also have planned it as disgruntled employee. After all, this is normal in the US.
Compact , lipstick, eyeliner, gun. Only in America.
You said that she was in transit? How did she get the gun in the first place to the transit point?
It must be hard to be informed, instead of having knee-jerk reactions based on the talking heads on TV.
U.S. violent and property crime rate have plunged since 1990s, regardless of data source.
Global temperature have risen since 1990s, regardless of data source.
Therefore, violent and property crime prevents global warming?
I totally get a flight attendant carrying a weapon---still, they should comply with the rules regarding the transportation of such weapons. Females, especially, in a country that embraces criminal activity at the expense of law-abiding citizens, are at risk when they travel alone, late in the evenings, in unfamiliar cities where violent crime is prevalent.
Perhaps the current caliber of passengers flying these days requires her to have protection. A projectile weapon is the worst type of weapon to have in a cabin pressured vessel that's 30,000 ft in the air , especially if not properly trained, but so many travelers from the Jerry Springer generation are flying these days. It's quite challenging.
Well, if the consequence for trying to bring a gun on a plane is just some fine, which seems to be the case in the US, there's your answer why people try it.
Who the jerk are you to suggest you can’t own a semi auto? Clearly you don’t understand firearms as most are and you should study the actual reason for our 2nd Amendment. I f$(((@@ hate it when one idiot does something illegal due to our stupidity, some liberal has to chime in with their anti-Gun rant.
So if the FA didn't pick up the weapon in Philly, how many other check points did they go through with the weapon don't being found or detected???
" Additionally, everyone of these mass shootings you see (or alternatively, insurections), they were stopped either directly through or via the threat of... you guesses it... a gun."
Is that also your cure for a hangover? More alcohol? I mean, technically it works, but I wouldn't want to be your liver...
Most people on a long layover alone in Philadelphia or many other large cities, wish they had personal protection still a very poor choice by this flight attendant to try to get it through security