I think if an assault weapon is found (.22 lady pistol) the law enforcement authorities must get involved because it is an undeclared weapon and also concealed weapon issues may come into play. Cops at their end must verify whether this individual has a license for that weapon. If yes and no criminal history is found, then they should be given the choice to surrender it, not board, or under escort take it out of the airport.
Originally Posted by
bocastephen
However, the issue is when and under what circumstances a person can refuse or withdraw from a search, and which items are germane to an administrative search of this type - clearly drugs, porn and drug paraphernalia are not germane to this type of search and should be inadmissible as evidence if found - unless the person has the right to stop the search at ANY point and leave the airport.
If a cop pulls you over for a broken tail light and then upon closer inspection he discovers blood on that tail light then suspicion is raised which would warrant additional searches. But cops are trained to handle such situations, whereas TSA isn't. Regardless of training though, as well as admissability of item found, if a crime is being comitted while under watch of a federal employee, then I believe it is the employee's duty to inform the authorities.
I do agree though that they shouldn't look for things that don't fall within the purvey of a lawful TSA search.
Which brings up another question... Does TSA have the right to forcefully detain you?