3 ms·

> The TSA is there to make people feel secure, not to be secure. Security theatre is part of it but they do make planes more secure. I (and the majority of pe

> The TSA is there to make people feel secure, not to be secure. Security theatre is part of it but they do make planes more secure. I (and the majority of people) don't want people bringing pocket knives, guns, samurai swords, lighters or whatever other crazy thing people feel they "have a right" to bring. Because when disagreements happen we don't need people escalating situations into life/death scenarios that require planes to make unscheduled and riskier landings.

yareally 14y ago
Most of those things were not allowed on airplanes before 2001 as well. Not sure what you are getting at really if this is an attempt to justify what TSA does.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Not to mention the "pocket knives" and "lighters" plots are foiled by the new policy of "beat the shit out of terrorists and then sit on them, or you all die".
  - modarts 14y ago
    This is one aspect of the security situation that I haven't been able to wrap my mind around: if someone were to attempt to hijack a plane with a pen knife/nail clipper/etc in any year past 2001, they'd get their shit stomped in. The public is well aware of the fact that terrorists don't always merely force landings and take hostages like they did before 9/11. Why do we continue to ban the most trivial shit?
- rosser 14y ago
  Before September 2001, I routinely flew with my Leatherman on my person. I'd simply remove it from its sheath and drop it in the little plastic basket for your keys and change and such, or hand it to the uniformed person manning the metal detector before passing through. I was never once questioned, or even looked at twice for doing this, and I flew fairly regularly.
  - yareally 14y ago
    A pocket knife is a rather absurd weapon anyways to anyone with common sense. Sure it could be used as a weapon, but it's not something that would keep passengers from stopping a terrorist in 2013. I don't know if pocket knives were technically allowed or just overlooked because of the above reason. My reference was in regards to the obvious (guns, swords, explosives, etc). I was at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix in the late 90s and the entire airport was shut down when someone went through security with a gun. Pedantics aside, airport security used to have common sense. Now, it's been tossed out the window for zero tolerance "no need to think" policy. It doesn't mean we should return exactly to the laws of the 1990s for airport security in the US, but the "security theater" for the sake of making people think they're safer by inconveniencing at best and harassment/theft/groping at worse is ridiculous.
    - shrughes 14y ago
      A leatherman is a bit bigger than a pocket knife.
      - yareally 14y ago
        That would all depend on the model in question[1]. 2-3" blade is pocket knife size. If going by wiki[2], it defines pocket knife as 2-6". 6" is pretty big for a what one would define as a pocket knife though. [1] http://images.google.com/images?q=leatherman&sourceid=opera&client=opera&num=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&complete=0&pws=0&sout=1 http://images.google.com/images?q=leatherman&sourceid=op... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_knife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_knife
  - Turing_Machine 14y ago
    That's the one thing I really miss. It's almost inevitable that I find myself needing a Leatherman at my destination (after all, you're away from all your other tools). I've even resorted to buying one at my destination and giving it to someone as a gift when I leave. I once bought a cheap soldering iron, hookup wire, and solder in Cambridge, MA and left it behind in the hotel room 'cause I didn't want the security hassle of taking it home on the plane.
Turing_Machine 14y ago
Every flight I've been on in the last several years has allowed you to bring a lighter on board. Edit: looks like that changed in 2007. http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/lighters-and-matches http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/lighters-and-matches

yareally 14y ago

Most of those things were not allowed on airplanes before 2001 as well. Not sure what you are getting at really if this is an attempt to justify what TSA does.

jlgreco 14y ago
Not to mention the "pocket knives" and "lighters" plots are foiled by the new policy of "beat the shit out of terrorists and then sit on them, or you all die".
- modarts 14y ago
  This is one aspect of the security situation that I haven't been able to wrap my mind around: if someone were to attempt to hijack a plane with a pen knife/nail clipper/etc in any year past 2001, they'd get their shit stomped in. The public is well aware of the fact that terrorists don't always merely force landings and take hostages like they did before 9/11. Why do we continue to ban the most trivial shit?
rosser 14y ago
Before September 2001, I routinely flew with my Leatherman on my person. I'd simply remove it from its sheath and drop it in the little plastic basket for your keys and change and such, or hand it to the uniformed person manning the metal detector before passing through. I was never once questioned, or even looked at twice for doing this, and I flew fairly regularly.
- yareally 14y ago
  A pocket knife is a rather absurd weapon anyways to anyone with common sense. Sure it could be used as a weapon, but it's not something that would keep passengers from stopping a terrorist in 2013. I don't know if pocket knives were technically allowed or just overlooked because of the above reason. My reference was in regards to the obvious (guns, swords, explosives, etc). I was at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix in the late 90s and the entire airport was shut down when someone went through security with a gun. Pedantics aside, airport security used to have common sense. Now, it's been tossed out the window for zero tolerance "no need to think" policy. It doesn't mean we should return exactly to the laws of the 1990s for airport security in the US, but the "security theater" for the sake of making people think they're safer by inconveniencing at best and harassment/theft/groping at worse is ridiculous.
  - shrughes 14y ago
    A leatherman is a bit bigger than a pocket knife.
    - yareally 14y ago
      That would all depend on the model in question[1]. 2-3" blade is pocket knife size. If going by wiki[2], it defines pocket knife as 2-6". 6" is pretty big for a what one would define as a pocket knife though. [1] http://images.google.com/images?q=leatherman&sourceid=opera&client=opera&num=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&complete=0&pws=0&sout=1 http://images.google.com/images?q=leatherman&sourceid=op... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_knife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_knife
- Turing_Machine 14y ago
  That's the one thing I really miss. It's almost inevitable that I find myself needing a Leatherman at my destination (after all, you're away from all your other tools). I've even resorted to buying one at my destination and giving it to someone as a gift when I leave. I once bought a cheap soldering iron, hookup wire, and solder in Cambridge, MA and left it behind in the hotel room 'cause I didn't want the security hassle of taking it home on the plane.

Turing_Machine 14y ago

Every flight I've been on in the last several years has allowed you to bring a lighter on board. Edit: looks like that changed in 2007. http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/lighters-and-matches http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/lighters-and-matches