4 ms·

>In other words, if we abolish the TSA tomorrow and replace it with metal detectors, what's to stop someone from bringing a few gallons of chemical explosives i

by fuzxi 6y ago

>In other words, if we abolish the TSA tomorrow and replace it with metal detectors, what's to stop someone from bringing a few gallons of chemical explosives in their backpack, mixing them in the lavatory, and blowing up the plane? The reality is that it's already feasible to sneak conventional weapons and explosives past TSA. Here are two fairly recent investigations on the TSA's efficacy, one from 2015 [1] and one from 2017 [2]. Both of these undercover investigations were performed by the Department of Homeland Security. The first one found that in 67 out of 70 tests, agents were able to get weapons past TSA, including a fake IED strapped to an agent's back. The second found that this failure rate dropped from 2015's staggering 95% to "in the ballpark" of 80%. Yes, the TSA always stops you when you bring a full water bottle. Eight times out of ten, they won't confiscate your gun or bomb. Even if they did, what's to stop someone from mixing chemicals to cause an explosion on a bus? Or in a crowded hotel? Or an elementary school? Or a mall? Or... In my opinion, there simply aren't that many people with both the desire and means to do these things. [1] https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881 https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-fin... [2] https://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-fails-tests-latest-undercover-operation-us-airports/story?id=51022188 https://abcnews.go.com/US/tsa-fails-tests-latest-undercover-...

scaryclam 6y ago
And let's not ignore the fact that someone could just kidnap the pilots families and blackmail them into "hijacking" their own plane. An organisation with the money and motivation doesn't care about the TSA and their security theater.
mjevans 6y ago
Meanwhile I can't pack through sun-tan lotion in a carry on so I can use it before I tear into my suitcase in a hotel room. I think the actually most dangerous thing in my bag was the laptop's lithium ion battery, though there were the lovely cellphone issues a year or two ago as well. Meanwhile, I hear it's possible to carry on a whole pumpkin pie. As if someone couldn't hide a good bit of volatile material in that format, or an improvised weapon in the form of it's carrying container. As much as I dislike profiling, I do believe it has a place of use in focusing actual suspicion based fact finding and proving. It should be used to exclude suspects and focus investigations and judicial review for search requests to cases that might matter.

by fuzxi 6y ago

scaryclam 6y ago

And let's not ignore the fact that someone could just kidnap the pilots families and blackmail them into "hijacking" their own plane. An organisation with the money and motivation doesn't care about the TSA and their security theater.

mjevans 6y ago

Meanwhile I can't pack through sun-tan lotion in a carry on so I can use it before I tear into my suitcase in a hotel room. I think the actually most dangerous thing in my bag was the laptop's lithium ion battery, though there were the lovely cellphone issues a year or two ago as well. Meanwhile, I hear it's possible to carry on a whole pumpkin pie. As if someone couldn't hide a good bit of volatile material in that format, or an improvised weapon in the form of it's carrying container. As much as I dislike profiling, I do believe it has a place of use in focusing actual suspicion based fact finding and proving. It should be used to exclude suspects and focus investigations and judicial review for search requests to cases that might matter.