Originally Posted by
TSORon
Most rules don’t change very often, like the one that says No Knives. Yet we still collect 25-30 knives a day at each of the checkpoints in my airport. Or the rule that says No Firearms, yet the TSA catches usually about 15 to 25 per week on its various checkpoints. Can you explain why people cant get those rules straight?
Hanlon's law says "never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I carry a Swiss army knife in my pocket all the time. I have to consciously remember to take it out of my pockets when I travel by airplane; a couple of times, I've caught it in my pocket while parking my car at the airport and had the change to leave it in my car. Heck, if Alvin Crabtree can forget about the firearm he brought to the checkpoint, why is it so unusual that passengers forget?
And, as you point out, 20 firearms per week, in comparison with the millions of passengers who transit a checkpoint each week, is really a very, very, very small percentage. Probably as small as the percentage of TSOs who steal from passengers.
Originally Posted by
TSORon
Asking questions, conversing with passengers, is only one of the ways to find people who want to do you harm. Asking a question harms no one. And there is absolutely nothing that prevents you from not answering.
Except that our silence in response to those questions could be interpreted as "suspicious behavior" by a TSO, thereby subjecting us to additional, invasive screening procedures. (Unless you're willing to tell me otherwise?)