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I have not seen any myself recently - I'm an infrequent air traveler. But for up to six months after 9/11 there were a lot of National Guard guys hanging aroun

by bdunbar 15y ago

I have not seen any myself recently - I'm an infrequent air traveler. But for up to six months after 9/11 there were a lot of National Guard guys hanging around, with M16s. Knowing how government work it would not surprise me at all to read that each airport now has TSA officers with SWAT training and they have all kinds of weaponry stashed in a locker somewhere.

phxrsng 15y ago
Most if not all TSA officers are not sworn officers, I believe. If you notice at airport security checkpoints, no TSA agents have weapons, a few actual police officers stationed there do.
- saryant 15y ago
  Right, TSA agents aren't law enforcement.
- bdunbar 15y ago
  Point taken. Give it a few years, they will be.
mikeash 15y ago
My recollection is that, at least initially, the Guardsmen stationed in airports after 9/11 were issued guns but no ammunition. Not sure whether it was due to red tape or what, but that certainly illustrates the US approach to "security" quite nicely.
- bdunbar 15y ago
  I think I remember the 'no ammo' thing. Less an institutional approach to security, more an example of institutional panic. The NG is fine with passing out guns - they probably break them out one weekend a month and dust them off.[1] But passing out ammo - that's a serious step. Some officers freak the heck out when they think about troops having actual live bullets in their magazines. In the 1980s era Marines, on barracks duty, I actually rolled out to a for-real no-kidding 'we're being shot at' incident with a rifle, a radio, a flashlight and no ammunition. The reasons _why_ are complicated (and this isn't the place for a sea story) but it boils down to 'the troops weren't trusted with bullets - they might shoot someone'. [1] I understand this has changed, for the better, since 9/11. Now they break them out and _clean_ them on drill weekend.

by bdunbar 15y ago

phxrsng 15y ago

Most if not all TSA officers are not sworn officers, I believe. If you notice at airport security checkpoints, no TSA agents have weapons, a few actual police officers stationed there do.

saryant 15y ago
Right, TSA agents aren't law enforcement.
bdunbar 15y ago
Point taken. Give it a few years, they will be.

mikeash 15y ago

My recollection is that, at least initially, the Guardsmen stationed in airports after 9/11 were issued guns but no ammunition. Not sure whether it was due to red tape or what, but that certainly illustrates the US approach to "security" quite nicely.

bdunbar 15y ago
I think I remember the 'no ammo' thing. Less an institutional approach to security, more an example of institutional panic. The NG is fine with passing out guns - they probably break them out one weekend a month and dust them off.[1] But passing out ammo - that's a serious step. Some officers freak the heck out when they think about troops having actual live bullets in their magazines. In the 1980s era Marines, on barracks duty, I actually rolled out to a for-real no-kidding 'we're being shot at' incident with a rifle, a radio, a flashlight and no ammunition. The reasons _why_ are complicated (and this isn't the place for a sea story) but it boils down to 'the troops weren't trusted with bullets - they might shoot someone'. [1] I understand this has changed, for the better, since 9/11. Now they break them out and _clean_ them on drill weekend.