6 ms·

So this is just theft by the government in open daylight, right?

unixhero 6y ago
I for one, cannot get over this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p2332490.m4084.l1313 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233... Pretty much theft and resale.
- caleblloyd 6y ago
  Just a guess, but the TSA probably pays a contacting company to take all of the confiscated items away. Then the contacting company disposes of can't be sold and sells the rest.
  - admax88q 6y ago
    In other words, using a fence to offload stolen goods.
- steerablesafe 6y ago
  What is the TSA supposed to do with these other than auctioning them off?
  - jstanley 6y ago
    If they consider them to be safe enough that it is not unethical to sell them in job lots to members of the general public, maybe they shouldn't be seizing them in the first place?
    - michaelt 6y ago
      I don't think it's TSA policy that water bottles are too dangerous for anyone to posses - they're merely not allowed through TSA checkpoints.
    - pdpi 6y ago
      Context matters. I don’t see a problem with a job lot of chef’s knives, but I definitely wouldn’t want somebody to carry one as cabin luggage
      - nybble41 6y ago
        Before the change in policy you could choose to have the items moved to checked baggage, or packaged and shipped separately. Seizing the items is not the only alternative to letting them into the cabin.
  - unixhero 6y ago
    In my opinion not make money of seized items. Recycle comes to mind.
    - steerablesafe 6y ago
      It's not obvious where the money flows, maybe that could be objected. Recycling perfectly good pocket knives would be rather wasteful.
    - bzb5 6y ago
      Reuse comes before recycle.
  - admax88q 6y ago
    Throw them away or donate them for free. If they are allowed to sell them and profit from the sale then they have a perverse incentive to take more things. Its like those tiny towns in rural USA who are funded by bullshit traffic violations on people driving through.
  - asdasfasdfasdf 6y ago
    sell them at cost
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    Since they are legal items that are merely prohibited to transport through the checkpoint, and since no forefeiture action has been taken which would lawfully deprive the owner of title, only a seizure of possession to prevent the prohibited action, they should be held for return to the owner outside of the secured area with storage charge (and shipment charge if an option for remote return is provided) covering reasonable actual costs only. Anything else would seem to be deprivation of property without due process and taking for public use without just compensation, in violation of both the due process and takings clauses of the 5th Amendment.
    - jaywalk 6y ago
      The owner is given the option to either go put it back in their car, ship it to themselves for a small fee, or let the TSA take it. It's not like "hey, you screwed up and now you lose this item for good!"
      - colejohnson66 6y ago
        “small” fee my ass. When the TSA confiscated a camping knife I kept in my backpack and forgot about, the agent said it’s about $20. Also, for someone who boards in 30 minutes with a TSA line just as long, they don’t really have a choice: it’s lose the item, or miss your flight. So I had to let them take it.
- kop316 6y ago
  As someone who (used to) travel a lot, the TSA have signs plastered throughout the entire security line to remind you to look through your belongings and make sure you don't have any banned items (they included what they were and had pictures of them too). If you went through airport security with a banned item (such as a knife), what they did was offer you three choices: - They let you go back outside of security and come back without it (the idea being is you go back to your car and put it back) - They had a small mailing station where you could mail it back to yourself (you had to pay for mailing, IIRC it was like $5-10) - You let them confiscate it It's not like what they consider banned items on airplanes are a secret. They even have a Twitter https://twitter.com/tsa/status/862098615472455680 https://twitter.com/tsa/status/862098615472455680 and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AskTSA https://www.facebook.com/AskTSA where you can ask if an item is ok to go through security! I am genuinely curious as to what they should do better.
  - ApicalDendrite 6y ago
    A friend discovered that he had a pocketknife with him just before he was about to go through security. So he went out to the airport smoker's area, dug a little hole in the ground, and buried the pocketknife. When he returned from his trip he went back and dug it up.
    - Liquix 6y ago
      Smart, but also a good way to end up in a questioning room for 4 hours...
    - tomatotomato37 6y ago
      I had a family member who tried to do a similar thing with a potted plant in the airport lobby, but it was still gone as security apparently runs metal detectors over common hiding places every so often as part of a bomb sweep.
    - jaywalk 6y ago
      I did something very similar on my way into jury duty one time, because I was parked far enough away that I didn't want to make that round trip.
- eloisant 6y ago
  That's TSA, not border guards. As far as I know counterfeit goods seized by the border guards are destroyed.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > I for one, cannot get over this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233... > Pretty much theft and resale. Why? It's common knowledge and well signed [1] that knives aren't allowed on planes. IIRC, the TSA does people with knives the option of getting out of line to take their knife home, but most people don't bother because it's more important to them to catch their flight. [1] https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/G14-1968677 https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Mana...

I for one, cannot get over this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p2332490.m4084.l1313 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233... Pretty much theft and resale.

caleblloyd 6y ago
Just a guess, but the TSA probably pays a contacting company to take all of the confiscated items away. Then the contacting company disposes of can't be sold and sells the rest.
- admax88q 6y ago
  In other words, using a fence to offload stolen goods.
steerablesafe 6y ago
What is the TSA supposed to do with these other than auctioning them off?
- jstanley 6y ago
  If they consider them to be safe enough that it is not unethical to sell them in job lots to members of the general public, maybe they shouldn't be seizing them in the first place?
  - michaelt 6y ago
    I don't think it's TSA policy that water bottles are too dangerous for anyone to posses - they're merely not allowed through TSA checkpoints.
  - pdpi 6y ago
    Context matters. I don’t see a problem with a job lot of chef’s knives, but I definitely wouldn’t want somebody to carry one as cabin luggage
    - nybble41 6y ago
      Before the change in policy you could choose to have the items moved to checked baggage, or packaged and shipped separately. Seizing the items is not the only alternative to letting them into the cabin.
- unixhero 6y ago
  In my opinion not make money of seized items. Recycle comes to mind.
  - steerablesafe 6y ago
    It's not obvious where the money flows, maybe that could be objected. Recycling perfectly good pocket knives would be rather wasteful.
  - bzb5 6y ago
    Reuse comes before recycle.
- admax88q 6y ago
  Throw them away or donate them for free. If they are allowed to sell them and profit from the sale then they have a perverse incentive to take more things. Its like those tiny towns in rural USA who are funded by bullshit traffic violations on people driving through.
- asdasfasdfasdf 6y ago
  sell them at cost
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  Since they are legal items that are merely prohibited to transport through the checkpoint, and since no forefeiture action has been taken which would lawfully deprive the owner of title, only a seizure of possession to prevent the prohibited action, they should be held for return to the owner outside of the secured area with storage charge (and shipment charge if an option for remote return is provided) covering reasonable actual costs only. Anything else would seem to be deprivation of property without due process and taking for public use without just compensation, in violation of both the due process and takings clauses of the 5th Amendment.
  - jaywalk 6y ago
    The owner is given the option to either go put it back in their car, ship it to themselves for a small fee, or let the TSA take it. It's not like "hey, you screwed up and now you lose this item for good!"
    - colejohnson66 6y ago
      “small” fee my ass. When the TSA confiscated a camping knife I kept in my backpack and forgot about, the agent said it’s about $20. Also, for someone who boards in 30 minutes with a TSA line just as long, they don’t really have a choice: it’s lose the item, or miss your flight. So I had to let them take it.
kop316 6y ago
As someone who (used to) travel a lot, the TSA have signs plastered throughout the entire security line to remind you to look through your belongings and make sure you don't have any banned items (they included what they were and had pictures of them too). If you went through airport security with a banned item (such as a knife), what they did was offer you three choices: - They let you go back outside of security and come back without it (the idea being is you go back to your car and put it back) - They had a small mailing station where you could mail it back to yourself (you had to pay for mailing, IIRC it was like $5-10) - You let them confiscate it It's not like what they consider banned items on airplanes are a secret. They even have a Twitter https://twitter.com/tsa/status/862098615472455680 https://twitter.com/tsa/status/862098615472455680 and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AskTSA https://www.facebook.com/AskTSA where you can ask if an item is ok to go through security! I am genuinely curious as to what they should do better.
- ApicalDendrite 6y ago
  A friend discovered that he had a pocketknife with him just before he was about to go through security. So he went out to the airport smoker's area, dug a little hole in the ground, and buried the pocketknife. When he returned from his trip he went back and dug it up.
  - Liquix 6y ago
    Smart, but also a good way to end up in a questioning room for 4 hours...
  - tomatotomato37 6y ago
    I had a family member who tried to do a similar thing with a potted plant in the airport lobby, but it was still gone as security apparently runs metal detectors over common hiding places every so often as part of a bomb sweep.
  - jaywalk 6y ago
    I did something very similar on my way into jury duty one time, because I was parked far enough away that I didn't want to make that round trip.
eloisant 6y ago
That's TSA, not border guards. As far as I know counterfeit goods seized by the border guards are destroyed.
ardy42 6y ago
> I for one, cannot get over this: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=tsa+lot+of&_trksid=p233... > Pretty much theft and resale. Why? It's common knowledge and well signed [1] that knives aren't allowed on planes. IIRC, the TSA does people with knives the option of getting out of line to take their knife home, but most people don't bother because it's more important to them to catch their flight. [1] https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/G14-1968677 https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Mana...