It was about 5 years ago I observed a GA at MCI open the back door of the boarding area to let the flight crew into the boarding area, so bypassing the security at the front entrance to the gate area. (As anyone who was ever there knows, MCI has a unique layout where the check-in counters are next to the gates). I questioned the security lead at the entrance to the boarding area how this was feasible and got the honest answer, "we only screen those who the airlines require to present themselves for screening".

It doesn't take a really close look under the skirts of the security theater to recognize that the holes and bypasses in the system are rampant, probably necessarily so. Take a close look at the floor layout next time you're in any typical airport and you quickly recognize the backdoors (SIDA badges and code required, of course) that completely bypass "security".

The only thing that surprises me are the posts of shock from otherwise astute contributors when it is again revealed that the sterile area ain't necessarily so sterile, and the security emperor is completely naked.

Screening flight-deck crew for anything just adds to the illusion. After all, that is the easiest way to have a 9-11 repeat; 1 of 2 flight crew turns terrorist, kills the other and flies a large aircraft into a major building. Feasible? Yes. Likely? Probably not, but significantly more likely than scenarios we spend far more energy and money on; the liquid bomb, another shoe bomb, etc., etc.

The parallel universe effect is even more apparent in posts such as the OP's where the flight crew member obviously had a weapon, but wasn't screened for explosives. How totally bizarre.