Originally Posted by
petaluma1
As you are probably aware, TSA claims it confiscates these replicas because they might cause problems on board due to passengers being frightened. I think for the most part they greatly underestimate the intelligence of passengers.
I'm not sure they do. Seriously. As much as I love my country, and as much pride as I have in its many accomplishments, I cannot deny that it contains multitudes of ignorant, backward, uneducated, easily-panicked, and/or just plain stupid people. They give the rest of us a bad name, and unfortunately they tend to be a rather vociferous group, pandered to by those in power at all levels of government. I have no doubt that the terrified nature of many in the traveling public would result in a panicked stampede or riot if even a mildly realistic replica weapon were ever brandished aboard an aircraft. If you doubt it, think about the infamous Usain Bolt Attack at JFK in August 2016:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/n...vacuation.html
https://abc7ny.com/travel/jfk-airpor...s-say/1470552/
Some raucous travelers celebrated Bolt's Olympic victory a bit too loudly for one panicked traveler, who called 911 and mistakenly reported shots fired.
From a few of the articles I have read, it seems that some of the celebrants were pounding on tables or countertops in their joy at Bolt's victory, the sound of which was mistaken for gunfire by someone who was probably already on-edge as a result of aviophobia and/or terrorphobia, probably someone who was unfamiliar with the actual sound of gunfire.
From there, the situation spiraled into panic, over-reaction, and terror, on the part of both the traveling public and the responding agencies. It is a wonder that no one was shot dead by the screaming, gun-wielding cops who swarmed the terminal to search for an active shooter that didn't actually exist.
If such a dangerous panic can be provoked by someone pounding their hands on a table, imagine the panic that might ensue if a frightened traveler actually saw a gun-shaped object in another traveler's possession. Worse, imagine the response from panicked LEOs when responding to a "man with a gun" call inside an airport terminal. Expecting to confront an active shooter, these officers would rush in with weapons drawn, adrenaline pumping, screaming at the tops of their lungs, and could easily open fire at a crowded gate or concession at the slightest provocation.
I am not defending the ridiculous confiscation of the teen's purse with an embossed gun image, or the confiscation of the woman's gun replica shoe heels, or the stupidity of prohibiting children's toys, or the blatant idiocy of attempting to confiscate a cane shaped like a lightsaber. However, I must acknowledge that replica weapons pose a genuine, if indirect, threat - that of provoking false panic among the easily panicked masses.