5 ms·
If needing to walk through a scanning device, having all of my items go through x-ray, have a dog sniff my crotch, having someone wipe down my stuff for explosi
by ryanmercer 7y ago
If needing to walk through a scanning device, having all of my items go through x-ray, have a dog sniff my crotch, having someone wipe down my stuff for explosive residue, so I can get on an airplane and reasonably expect to not have someone hijack it with a gun, bomb or box knife to hold me hostage for a year or slam me into a skyscraper, then so be it.
I'll walk through the entire airport naked as the day I was born if it deters even one would-be hijacker or finds one mentally disturbed individual that wishes to do us harm (example Federal Express Flight 705 where an employee facing termination flew jump, entered the cockpit with a guitar case containing hammers and a speargun with the intent to kill the flight crew and suicide with the plane so his family would get the insurance payout, fortunately the flight crew managed to subdue him despite suffering serious injury and safely land the plane).
An airport isn't a place where I expect privacy, or generous freedoms. I'm getting in a manned missile with tens to hundreds of strangers. Flying on an airplane is not a constitutional right, it is a privilege. If I have to show photo ID and go through all the above to be able to get anywhere in the country in hours, I'm wholly fine with that. If you don't like it, you're more than welcome to drive hours or days across the country or get on a boat and spend days and days travelling across the ocean and more days travelling across a continent by car or train to get to your destination without most of the security measures.
- BubRoss 7y agoYou can reasonably expect that without any of this nonsense since it is so rare that things like that happen.
- ryanmercer 7y agoLast year alone TSA discovered 4,239 firearms, 3,656 of which were loaded. https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2019/02/07/tsa-year-review-record-setting-2018 https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2019/02/07/tsa-year-review-record-s...
- beepboopbeep 7y agoWhat's your point? Keep in mind the TSA's own internal testing has found them to be largely ineffective.[1][2] [1]https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2017/11/09/tsa-misses-70-of-fake-weapons-but-thats-an-improvement/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2017/11/09/tsa... [2]https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-...
- ryanmercer 7y agoMy point? My point is there were 3,656 less loaded firearms in airplanes last year in the United States than there would have been without TSA, and 20-something thousand 'dangerous devices' total kept off the flights. That's 3,656 less chances of a hijacking, or accidental discharges depressurizing a cabin and causing an emergency landing. Really, the number of chances is likely higher than that considering many of those instances likely came with one or more connecting flights.
- smcg 7y agoYou can still catch those firearms with a simple metal detector. You don't need device searches or indefinite detention.
- BubRoss 7y agoIf the TSA is 95% ineffective, that would mean 20x the amount of loaded guns made it through (in reality guns are probably found more often). This would still be tens of thousands of loaded guns that made it through without any incident. People forget about guns in their bags all the time. This statistic is orthogonal to what I said before.
- Fjolsvith 7y ago> You can reasonably expect that without any of this nonsense since it is so rare that things like that happen. Deterrence is certain to play a part in the lack of incidents.
- cardiffspaceman 7y agoIs the real deterrent the exercise before we board a plane that apparently only stops 5% of the weapons people bring, or the observation that given people know their lives are forfeit once the bad guy shows his intentions, the passengers will rise up to thwart the bad guy?
- tenebrisalietum 7y agoThere's a lot of problems with this statement and the "freedom vs. security" thing is not even the main one. Why stop at flights, why not expect this in every facet of your daily life if deterring even one would-be hijacker or finding one mentally disturbed individual that wishes to do us harm is so valuable? Why not be required to drive or walk naked? A car is simply a missile with wheels and no wings, and cars are also not mentioned in the Constitution. Why are people who ride trains or drive cars deserving of less protection?
- mikelward 7y agoThis article is about CBP (landing in the US), not TSA (boarding a plane).
- derrikcurran 7y agoI'm normally exceptionally thick skinned but reading this has left me offended on so many levels that I'm unable to formulate a high quality response. And yet I'm emotionally compelled to express my outrage anyway. I'll just say that some things are more important than human lives.