The TSA's liquids rules are based on the premise that one six-ounce bottle of shampoo can blow up an airplane, while two three-ounce bottles can't. Not only is this a ridiculous notion, it should be obvious that it's trivial to defeat the rule. For example, if the average "freedom baggie" can contain ten 3.4-oz bottles of liquid, then if a terrorist organization needs n ounces of liquid to carry out a dastardly plot, they need only send n/34 terrorists through security, who can then combine their individual liquids past the security checkpoint (say, in the restroom).

The rule also ignores the fact that there are a rather large number of explosives in solid, rather than liquid, form. 3-1-1 serves to do nothing but inconvenience travelers and produce further fearmongering.

The 3-1-1 rule is unnecessarily burdensome to travelers. It limits the amounts of liquid that can be carried on, occasionally forcing one to check luggage which can be expensive and is always time consuming. It slows checkpoint operations; eliminating it would speed up security lines. Because the 3-1-1 rule has no effect on travel security, eliminating it would have no negative consequences.