TSA Confiscates More Than 1,000 Guns From Airplane Passengers in 2011
EmailTransportation Security Administration officers have confiscated more than 1,000 guns that were discovered by security personnel as passengers traveled through airport security screenings so far this year, the head of the TSA said.
“More than 10 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, people are still trying to bring deadly weapons into the cabin of an airplane,” TSA administrator John Pistole said at George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute.
“On Tuesday, just two days ago, we detected nine guns passengers had in their carry-on bags at various checkpoints around the country.” Pistole said.
Pistole showed several slides of drugs and weapons that passengers were attempting to bring or smuggle on board aircraft.
One slide showed a veritable arsenal allegedly taken from a man arrested at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport after, officials said, TSA officers discovered two handguns, three ammunition clips and eight knives in his bag last month.
Guns and knives found in a passenger's luggage at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport.
According to one DHS official, the man claimed he forgot the weapons were in his bags.
“We have seen a slight increase in guns being brought to the checkpoint over the past few months,” said a TSA official. “We don’t keep stats on why passengers bring prohibited items to airports but, anecdotally, passengers typically say they forgot it was in their bag.”
In his speech, Pistole also hailed the use of the controversial advanced imaging technology, which some people call the “body scanners” deployed at airports.
“We continue to see the efficacy of advanced imaging technology,” he said. “While there is no silver bullet technology, this technology gives our officers the best opportunity to detect both metallic and non-metallic threats, including improvised explosive devices such as the device [accused underwear bomber] Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate on Christmas day 2009.”
Pistole showed the audience a picture of a man who was attempting to smuggle 700 grams of cocaine by wrapping ace bandages around his legs. Pistole said the AIT machine had alerted screeners to an anomaly in the ankle area.
Officials said 700 grams of cocaine were found on a passenger, thanks to airport advanced imaging technology.
Pistole also highlighted a ceramic knife and a small packet of cocaine detected by the screening technology.
A ceramic knife was detected by an AIT screening machine at Miami International Airport, officials said.
A packet of cocaine allegedly was discovered with AIT screening by TSA officers in Indianapolis.
White House Loves Aggressive Journalism ... Abroad 
Virginia Ultrasound Bill Hits Nerve
And no planes fell. So either people got more vicious after 9/11 and therefore brought more weapons on, or people were always bringing guns onto planes. I’d bet on the latter, and yet how many terror attacks occurred? Hmmm…
Posted by: JoJo | November 10, 2011, 10:44 pm 10:44 pm
“But as long as terrorists remain fixated on blowing up jetliners, new methods deserve a chance to be tested”…….. So what terrorists is it exactly that is “fixated” on blowing up jetliners?
PLEASE!!!!! Give it a rest!! This kind of talk doesn’t fly anymore (no pun intended). People are not buying it. This is just another scare tactic designed to frighten people into demanding even MORE security when traveling.
We would certainly be as safe, and maybe even safer, if the TSA was not even in the picture. The REAL RISK is miniscule. The body scanners are more dangerous, statistically, than terrorists.
Give security back to the Airlines, and let them protect their own property.
Posted by: Wimpie | November 10, 2011, 11:02 pm 11:02 pm
And drugs such as cocaine are a threat to aviation how exactly?
The TSA’s mission is to find items that can cause damage and harm to airplanes and passengers. The fact that Mr. Pistole is touting drug finds is yet another example of how out of control his agency has become.
Posted by: SB | November 10, 2011, 11:06 pm 11:06 pm
You don’t think they caught all of them do you?? I wonder how many they didn’t catch, and nobody shot up a plane!
Posted by: Butch | November 10, 2011, 11:13 pm 11:13 pm
I just find it funny the guy in charge of reporting weapons found in airports name is Pistole. Funny coincidence.
Posted by: Colin | November 10, 2011, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
TSA personnel seem to outnumber passengers at many times throughout the day. I don’t believe that they provide any real security other than job security and a growing Federal budget. This security mania is spilling over to other government buildings, courthouses and etc. causing massive delays and interruptions in otherwise simple tasks. When will it end?
Posted by: Mahjongg | November 10, 2011, 11:46 pm 11:46 pm
You want to be safe at the airport make everyday baseball bat day, an armed society is a polite society.
Posted by: snewsom2997 | November 11, 2011, 10:09 am 10:09 am
I afraid if these nitwits try to take their show on the road,the public will retaliate. They might ought keep this nonsence in the airports for their own safety?
Posted by: Robert | November 11, 2011, 11:32 am 11:32 am
Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart.
Justice Robert Jackson, chief U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials
Posted by: panhead20 | November 11, 2011, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
It is absurd for TSA to claim this as an accomplishment. These guns would have been readily discovered by the private screeners using the baggage x-rays and walk through metal detectors in 1995 and without sexually assaulting passengers.
The private screeners didn’t cost the taxpayers a penny since they were funded by the airlines. Now we are spending $8 billion per year for dangerous scanners and being molested by ignorant mall cop rejects for less service than we received free 10 years ago.
Had the FBI and CIA not withheld the 9/11 hijack information from the private screening firms, over 3.000 people wouldn’t have died and taxpayers would have saved the %$80 billion wasted on TSA since then.
This agency is a national disgrace and Pistole an enemy of the Constitution. He should be prosecuted for this criminal and baseless assault on innocent Americans, TSA dismantled and replaced with something that actually works.
Posted by: Fisher1949 | November 11, 2011, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
…3 of 4…
Fortunately, the TSA will provide you with your opportunity for due process. Once you demonstrate your civil disobedience, you will be refused boarding, forfeiting the cost of your ticket. The others in your party, whether disobedient or not, may be subjected to the same. You may be put on a watch list, detained, or even arrested. You will ruin your family’s vacation and alienate yourself from friends and colleagues. The ensuing consequences (i.e. a criminal record) may impact your employability, thus jeopardizing the economic security of the ones you are responsible for (e.g., take food off of your children’s plates.)
Posted by: James | November 17, 2011, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm