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The Transportation Security Administration is considering toning down the airport security precautions that have been in place since 9/11. An August 5th memo leaked to the Washington Post outlines the proposed changes which include allowing nail-clippers, small knives, razor-blades, throwing stars, bows and arrows, and ice picks. Further, only passengers who set off metal detectors, are flagged by computer screening, or who look "reasonably suspicious" would be asked to take their shoes off.
A final decision won't be made until later in the month but Gothamist is slightly optimistic about the proposed changes as some of the restrictions over the past few years, like nail-clippers, were a bit ridiculous (however we do find ourselves wondering who needs to carry on ice picks and throwing stars? We guess considering some of the crazy stuff that airport security has found we shouldn't be that surprised, but still...). So, how about you? Are you for or against a toned down airport screening process?
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Shuriken (aka "throwing stars") are illegal in many states anyway, so it's pretty silly for the FAA to allow them to be carried. As for the rest, well, it's about bloody time they came to their senses. As I've always said, only an idiot would try to hijack a plane with a knife nowadays because he'd be jumped and beaten to a pulp by every able-bodied man on the plane, including me. I might be able to survive being stabbed. I definitely wouldn't survive being crashed into a building. Guess which alternative I'll risk?
I didn't like having to leave useful little Swiss Army knives and multitools at home whenever I had to go on overnight and weekend trips that didn't justify checked luggage. And then of course, there were the TSA screeners who decided 6" nylon ties had to be confiscated because I could bind somebody with them. Then they ignored the 48" of parachute cord that was also in my tool bag. Hellooooo! Minimum wage morons.
Darn! Brightliner said everything I was going to say. I go everywhere with my swiss army knife and ever since 9/11 it's been a pain to do without it. I was actually carrying one waiting for takeoff at la Guardia on 9/11. On my next trip after 9/11 I had to mail back my knife. I've always wondered whether the FAA has ever heard of lexan camping utensils. You can give a plastic lexan knife quite a razor's edge. If I know this a hijacker knows it too.
To follow brightliner's thought, the 9/11 hijackers got away with capturing a whole plane with only box cutters because no one expected it to be a suicide plot. That's not going to happen again.
Wow, check out all the weekend warriors here with your synthetic knives and zip ties. Lemme guess, y'all play paintball too?
Throwing stars? Who the hell needs throwing stars as carry-on?
Afraid not, Rocknrope. Never played paintball in my life. Any other stupid assumptions you'd care to try?
"Brightliner", maybe you should reexamine your assumption that TSA screeners are "minimum wage morons". There's a set of rules that they follow. Spoiled adults always seem to jump on the little guy when things don't go their way.
Paul,
Read it again. I didn't call them morons because they took the zip ties. It's that they took them then left the parachute cord untouched. That shows a serious lack of common sense and/or their reasoning was specious. Are you saying the rules consider paracord less dangerous than zip ties? I can tie up somebody a lot faster and easier with paracord than with zip ties. In fact, with that length of paracord, I could have tied up two or three people, whereas the four zip ties I had could have bound one person, tops. Paracord would also make an excellent garrote if I were a psychopath. Or a leg snare or many other nefarious devices that any person with half a brain can come up with. If you're saying screeners are rule-bound robots incapable of independent thought, then you've done nothing but prove my point. No wonder so many mock weapons get through in those newscast security tests.
people get so upset they have to take their shoes off. just wear slip-ons or something.
No matter what shoes I wear, they always set off the detectors.
The number of corkscrews I've surrendered to airport security is approaching double digits.
Of course, everyone loves Charades.
Boy, sensitive aren't we? Relax bro, I'm with you.
No, the system's not perfect, maybe not even good. But do you really think TSA would leave airline security up to the individual discretion of each screener? If you're going to insult someone, insult the TSA, but don't call the screeners morons for just doing their job. That's so pre-hipster Upper East Side.
Any other assumptions you'd like to make about us paintballers?
So, Paul, would you care to show us where TSA says zip ties are not allowed in the passenger cabin? The fact of the matter is that the screener who confiscated them did so only after inspecting them for nearly a minute then calling over a supervisor, whereupon they conferred for a couple of more minutes before informing me the ties weren't allowed. Do you think a hard and fast rule in the TSA guidebook would have required this kind of hand-wringing? Sounds like individual discretion to me. If they're doing their jobs badly, they deserve any and all scorn heaped upon them.
And I notice while you're decrying stereotyping of screeners, you yourself don't avoid stereotyping, comfortably bandying around such derogatory terms like "spoiled adults" and "Upper East Side." People in glass houses...
OK, you win. Feel better now?
Your insincerity is touching.