artemis

Absolutely. I've long thought that that is the best way to get a large bomb in the hold - have someone on the inside slip it into a bag that's already been screened. And of course there's commercial cargo loaded onto passenger flights that receives minimal (if any) screening, and nothing on the catering truck receives any screening at all. "Would you like a special meal? Your options for this flight are kosher, vegetarian, or McBoom!"

The real reason planes aren't being blown out of the sky right and left is the same reason huge numbers of people aren't being deliberately run over by passenger vehicles or gunned down and/or blown to pieces in shopping centers: there just aren't all that many people out there who are both willing and able to do those things. Even in countries where ISIS and Al Shabab have a real presence, most people simply aren't murderers.

(Does that mean we need no security at all? No, of course not. But we need to keep the security screening proportionate to the actual level of threat, and we need to realize and accept that a risk-free free society is a contradiction in terms.)

gooselee

Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if half (literally 50%) of the US population isn't aware that not all countries in Europe are part of the EU, or that the Schengen zone is yet another different grouping of states.

More than once I have heard people refer to Africa as a country.

This makes most people reacting to the news believe that this issue (and so many others) are far less complex than they actually are. Add that to people believing that the US is the center of the world, and....

RandomNobody

And the 2002 LAX El-Al attack:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_L...rport_shooting

ashill

That's very different: differentiated by clear signs, still involves getting ID checked, etc. Nothing like some apparently-random people on the same airplane being allowed to have a laptop while most aren't.

notquiteaff

Maybe the airlines should be required to segregate us trusted travelers in the pointy end of the plane (free of charge), with non-transparent curtain separating us from the scary masses in the back.

rickg523

Well, considering less than a third of Americans have - or even want - a passport....kind of comes with the territory.

artemis

True, but it still represents a problem. Barriers that make it more difficult for people without nefarious intentions to enter and visit the US reduce the US's global competitiveness. No matter how much many of my countrymen like to think the US is the center of the world, it's simply not true.

Majuki

"I thought Europe was a country?" - Kellie Pickler

That's the difficulty of trying to have a unified policy. There are some countries that are EU and Schengen (France, Germany, etc.), some countries are EU but non-Schengen (UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania), and you have non-EU but Schengen countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland). Then there are non-EU, non-Schengen countries with nonstop flights to the US (Russia and Ukraine).

GUWonder

I had ridiculously suggested banning all passengers in the 4th quarter of 2001. Not sure if that technically puts me ahead or behind The Onion, but I'm a ridiculously bad joker.

artemis

Or maybe the scary masses should also go in the cargo hold, along with their PEDs? The airlines could call it "Steerage Economy" and promote its virtues ("You are never separated from ANY of your luggage! No seats at all means you'll never be squished by a fat person or have your knees crushed by the person in front of you reclining!" Climbing on the checked bags will give your kids an outlet for their youthful energy!")

Seriously, although allowing folks with Global Entry to carry otherwise-banned electronics onto the plane probably makes sense purely from a security point of view, it will never go over. It smacks too much of elitism (most people know only that you pay to get Global Entry; they don't know that anyone can apply for it, and they don't understand that there's more than just paying a fee involved in getting it, and that a background check and personal interview are required as well.) What might make more sense from a public-relations perspective would be to allow any person to pay a fee to carry on electronics other than a cellphone, with the electronics subject to a rigorous inspection (paid for by the fee). That would feel more democratic to most people than Global Entry holders getting special privileges does.

rickg523

First off, ability to pay is far more elitist than being a vetted passenger. Any American can be Global Entry if they apply and qualify.
The pay-for-more-fun ethos of air travel in a monopolistic system already has begun to reap the whirlwind in fuselages nationwide.
But...here's a sarcastic solution.
If GE's are afforded extra benefits, issue a snazzy kind of uniform to go with the status. One thing clear in modern America is that questioning anyone wearing a uniform no matter what they are doing is verboten and lawfully subject to the harshest reprisal.

Fredrik74

Can any EU citizen be a member? Because if not there's no reason to think it should be a factor.

beachmouse

It's not just direct costs for Global Entry; it's also indirect costs. Even though I live east of the Mississippi River, the nearest place I can go for Global entry is 300+ miles away by car. Literally half the states in the country have no interview location for Global Entry.

So easy to have to spend a couple hundred dollars beyond the cost of application to get GE if you don't live vaguely near a GE interview site and can't combine your interview with another trip.

GUWonder

Some EU citizens can, but most can't. But don't worry -- GE members won't be waived from the hits of this ban. And so all equal animals will be treated poorly as US DHS likes it in this regard.

notquiteaff

No, apparently only Germans and Brits.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...ry/eligibility