Originally Posted by meiji
You know, that's bull**** too. Or rather it's not but you know exactly why these things should be prohibited. The problem with the US is that some people confuse common sense security with some kind of attack on their freedom and lump it in with stuff like shoe carnivals. Carrying weapons on flights and having your shoes left on at security are not the same deal which ever way you cut it.
If you ask me, we have too much "common sense" security. What the govt really needs to do is get people of average intelligence together in a room and ask them to pretend to be terrorists and plan an attack on an airliner using only what is allowed. Out of that, I suspect you'd discover that real security would involve banning cell phones, laptops, powercords and battery powered consumer electronics of all kinds.
Your emphasis on small knives and throwing stars reminds me of an anecdote a friend told me about some German friends of his. They carefully wrapped all of their meat while cooking to avoid any charring (cancer risk, you see), while all along they chain-smoked cigarettes.