Originally Posted by Bart
Yes, you're supposed to separate the plastic bag from your carry-on bag. When you do not separate the plastic bag, it's an automatic bag check. So, while your fellow travelers may have gone into the checkpoint without removing the bags, I'm willing to bet that they were stopped at the other end and had their bags checked.
Personal opinion: that part of the policy is ridiculous. I think a screener can tell the difference between a bunch of containers that are inside a plastic bag even if not removed from the carry-on as opposed to a bunch of liquid containers dispersed throughout the bag. And even then, I'm willing to bet that screeners can tell if each of those containers exceed the 3 oz limit or if they are "close enough for government work." I'm a big believer in "close enough" or, as I often put it, "tie goes to the runner."
Bart, an article in the Wall Street Journal quotes Hawley on the 3 oz container rule. "It's not the ounces. It's the container we're after." The reasoning he went on to say is that containers larger than 3 oz could pose a threat as a place to mix enough liquid explosives to create a bomb.
Let's say that Billy Bob, Abdul, and I have all put our liquids/gels in the appropriate containers/baggies and have cleared security. We now go to a shop inside the secure area and buy a 20 oz bottle of water which we then take on the plane with us. We are seated in 10A,B,and C. After the aircraft has reached altitude and the bottle of water has been consumed, we then busy ourselves with emptying all of our 3 oz containers into the empty bottle.
Now we have a 20 oz potentially lethal concoction.
My Question; if it really is the "container we're after" why are we letting any type of container larger than 3 oz on the aircraft?