TSA: Hancock man caught with gun at Logan Airport

[Wendell]

BOSTON, Mass. - A Hancock man was caught with a loaded .32-caliber gun at Logan International Airport in Boston, Mass., last week, federal officials said. The Hancock man was stopped last Friday, Feb. 7, when a TSA officer noticed the gun in the man’s belongings as he entered the checkpoint X-ray machine and state police were called to confiscate the weapon and detain the man for questioning. The man, whose name was not released, was later allowed to take the handgun back to his vehicle.
https://www.unionleader.com/news/hum...8ef57e4d3.html

[HeavyDuty]

Common sense broke out at Logan? Let me go get a lottery ticket.

[scjbash]

Nine people were caught with guns at the checkpoint at our (small) local airport last year. Nationwide the number was over 4400. People ain't too bright.

[Rex G]

Perhaps, his possession of the weapon was legal, up to the checkpoint, and the detention/interview determined there was no intent to board with the weapon. I will not speculate on whether the person may have had an enhanced social status, that contributed to this outcome, or whether the ranking/senior security/LEO at the scene simply made a wisdom-of-Solomon call.

I very nearly crossed into Canada, in 1990, with a loaded magazine among some assorted papers, inside my vehicle. A desire to return home sooner, as I was missing my toddler son, is what prevented me from taking that potential leg of my trip. (The goal of the trip was on the Olympic Peninsula.) I found the mag after I returned home.

I found a small loaded revolver, hidden inside my vehicle, in 1994 or 1995, while on a trip in upstate NY. I was fishing a well-hidden ATM or credit card, from a hiding place, and the revolver caught my eye. I was an LEO, and while “professional courtesy” might have prevailed, the LEOSA did not yet exist, so I was not legal, even under FOPA 1986. This was not a gun I normally carried, and by now, I have forgotten why it was inside the vehicle, but this revolver, and the above-mentioned mag, remind me that I should not judge folks harshly, when ammo, knives, mags, and small handguns are found among their travel items. Folks can forget where something has been cached.

Notably, I had swept each of those vehicles, for weapons, before each trip, but, not thoroughly, or perhaps while distracted. I did not believe in leaving firearms inside unattended vehicles, at any time in my life, so my best guess is that may have temporarily cached the revolver, while at the beach, or while otherwise changing clothing while inside the vehicle, and then, as it was not a usual primary or secondary weapon, forgotten to retrieve it, when finished.

Regarding firearms inside luggage, some items of luggage are quite heavy, on their own, so the weight of a weapon could be disguised, and especially if multi-pocketed, a weapon could remain unnoticed.

[blues]

^^^^I think we'll have to change your handle to Oedipus 'HiddenPiece Rex'.

[OlongJohnson]

Something like 20 years ago (before 9/11), this guy I know was repacking his bags in the hotel, getting ready for his return flight from Germany, and found a loaded mag in a gear bag he always carried on (including the outbound leg of that same trip). I'm told he left it in a trash can somewhere between the room and the airport. Or that's the story I was told by a mutual acquaintance.

[Jim Watson]

Anecdote Alert:

Some years ago, pre 9/11, a lady professor of my acquaintance was off to teach a class in Accounting Methods in Thailand. She unpacked upon arrival to find a disassembled G19 in her bag. She quietly smuggled it home the same way.

Later, another friend found armed by TSA had considerable disruption of schedule.

[deflave]

The TSA has no arrest authority.

It's always up to the cop on duty.

They've usually seen almost every scenario at least once and will sort things out accordingly.

[0ddl0t]

My aunt, a retired LEO, has twice taken domestic flights with her snub nose in her purse. Both times she noticed it at her destination and checked it for the return flight (it is always in her purse so she doesn't normally think about it).

[vcdgrips]

"The TSA has no arrest authority."

More accurately, the TSA screener has no arrest authority. The TSA Series 1811 Criminal Investigator/Special Agent that often has a duty station in the terminal and/or on the airport property does in fact have arrest authority and do in fact make arrests under that authority on a regular basis.