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Should TSA agents be armed?

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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 7:52 pm
  #61  
 
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Uh no. They already lack good judgement and you want to arm them?
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:14 pm
  #62  
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Originally Posted by Emma1420
Very true, but I believe the qualification standards are about the same.
Not true - fast food workers get fire if they are surly or screw up on the job.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:14 pm
  #63  
 
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No. This was an isolated incident. No need for knee jerk reactions. TSA agents are arrogant enough as it is, I can't imagine if you put a gun on their hip.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:21 pm
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Absolutely not. Airport security is the responsibility of the local jurisdiction. The last thing we need is more gun toting people in airports. The only way to prevent guns getting in is another perimeter x ray check. Then you would need one to protect that perimeter. It could go on forever. Bottlenecks are target rich. I wonder what set him off.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:25 pm
  #65  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
That (second paragraph becoming reality) would be unfortunate.
A quote from tonight's CBS Evening News:

One possible option that is being discussed is creating a separate unit of the TSA with law enforcement training and weapons.
I bet we hear a lot more about this proposal in the weeks to come.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:29 pm
  #66  
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Clearly the topic is related to airline/airport security so please follow it to the apt Travel Security forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:34 pm
  #67  
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Originally Posted by tom911
A quote from tonight's CBS Evening News:



I bet we hear a lot more about this proposal in the weeks to come.
Remember a few years ago when Pistole was talking about building a mega-million dollar TSA Academy? Did anyone really think it was going to be to train agents to recognize NEXUS cards and rearrange bins?
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:38 pm
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Pistole is FBI. Rest assured he will try to milk this for more budget. Better leave it to the locals. We don't need more Feds at the airports than we already have.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 8:41 pm
  #69  
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The TSA screens about 1.8 million passengers a day (TSA website). In 11 years that's over 7 billion served.

Odds of someone killing a TSA agent 1:7,000,000,000. The odds of being killed by a meteor in your lifetime are more likely.

This over reaction to an isolated event is typical and will be exacerbated by the US media. The story will be played over and over again until it becomes all consuming and it seems like everyone should be afraid. I'm more afraid of the single story media than random nut jobs.

One thing about the 9/11 WTC attack is we didn't have to hear about Chandra Levy anymore. I believe NASA killed Anna Nichole Smith. The story about the diaper wearing astronaut started to get foothold then Anna died and that became the new story du jour. If NASA ordered the hit, then the diaper wearing astronaut story would go away.
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 9:19 pm
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No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 9:45 pm
  #71  
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Absolutely 100% NO!!
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Old Nov 3, 2013 | 11:44 pm
  #72  
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I'm so happy and relieved to see that people here think the same as I do: NO GUNS FOR TSA AGENTS... EVER!
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Old Nov 4, 2013 | 12:09 am
  #73  
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Should the Barista at Starbucks in the Departure Hall get a gun as well?

Because from where I see it TSA Agents are in no way more involved or qualified to take down an attacker at a public place than any other bystander. It has gotten better but 70% of these people are complete Bozo's and shouldn't carry anything sharper than a pencil or they would do significant damage to themselves and others.
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Old Nov 4, 2013 | 12:55 am
  #74  
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Originally Posted by puddinhead
The TSA screens about 1.8 million passengers a day (TSA website). In 11 years that's over 7 billion served.

Odds of someone killing a TSA agent 1:7,000,000,000. The odds of being killed by a meteor in your lifetime are more likely.
I would argue that the odds of being shot are even much less than that. The shooter in this case wasn't a passenger on a plane (though some reports suggest he was holding a boarding pass); there are janitors, visitors to the airport, ticketing agents, taxi drivers, LEOs, restaurant workers, delivery personnel, airline pilots, flight attendants, ground personnel, and TSA agents themselves.

It's much more dangerous working in a printshop than working at the airport. In my hometown there was this in 2012: Shooting.

At least five people were killed when a man opened fire at a Minneapolis business and then turned the gun on himself, police said Friday.
I would suggest that we arm all workers at printshops before we arm TSA agents.
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Old Nov 4, 2013 | 1:05 am
  #75  
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Originally Posted by WindowSeat123
The flip side of that is if there is greater scrutiny and training for armed personnel, the general quality of the TSA might go up, and you'll get less of those surly but useless morons who could'nt get any other job sign up for the TSA...

But yeah, that will never happen. The expense and bureaucracy involved is too great...
Is there any study/evidence that ordinary, untrained and uneducated (note: uneducated - means not aware of responsibilities and consequences to one's actions) people's responsibility increases when they are given firearms?

Somehow Stanford Prison Experiment comes into mind...

Last edited by invisible; Nov 4, 2013 at 1:19 am
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