Originally Posted by
astroflyer
It's funny to find this thread. I was just this morning reading an article, and I kept having this dread that someone would suggest arming the TSA.
Thankfully, no one that counts has made such a suggestion that I've seen.
I would argue that introducing more guns into the airport environment would make things more dangerous. Accidental shootings, the higher possibility of a service weapon going "missing", etc. That being said, when I've seen LEO's deployed at checkpoints, they're never paying attention....always looking down with a glazed, bored look. If there had been an LEO at the checkpoint, I imagine he or she would have been the first target.
I'm not going to bother digging for a cite - it's easy enough to find, maybe on CNN. The LE staffing at LAX had been shifted very recently, apparently partly in response to complaints from LEs stationed at the sterile side of the checkpoints who were complaining about being bored. There were reports that they were often seen texting or reading. They were reassigned to roam around in the terminal instead.
I don't think they ever expected to be called upon to do anything more than arrest a pax found with a weapon, drugs or large sum of $ at the checkpoint - or possibly one who was accused of showing attitude to a TSO.
I've already seen discussion about the need to up the weaponry the police carry, perhaps arming them with AR-15s so they won't be outgunned.