I'm stuck at LAX for 7 hours today, so I've been wandering around a bit (there are just so many screwdrivers I can drink the Red Carpet Club) and I noticed something interesting. I was walking past one of those stand-alone ATM machines and noticed a couple of uniformed private security guards loading it up with cash. What initially got my attention were the huge stacks of 20s lying around -- there had to hundreds of thousands of dollars in neatly-banded 20s. But then I noticed the Sam Browns worn by the guards. As with most security guards that handle large sums of money, the belts were outfitted for pistols and mace. However, for these guys -- the mace and pistol holster were empty. Well, of course -- they have to come through security and airside is sterile: no guns and no mace.

So all we need is a bunch of really big guys . . .

Obviously, I'm just kidding. Still, I think it is absolutely bizarre that bonded security guards who can carry guns in banks, on the street, etc., can't carry them in an airport.

I feel safer. Don't you?

Of course I feel safer. But then I shouldn't be posting in this forum!

I presume they still have radios and other panic type devices that they can trigger to get police presence. There are cameras and police around airports, and a call back to their base will get a whole lot more police on the scene.

Perhaps a camera is watching the ATM while it is being refilled, and someone ready to do whatever is needed if something occurs. There could also be plain clothes security staff keeping an eye on the situation from a distance.

You don't need guns to have security.

We need a panicked crowd of some sort... perhaps a terminal dump.

Guns, and some legal authority to go along with them, do help deal with unforeseen holes in security.

I was thinking 20 people dressed as clowns -- we grab the cash, duck into the RCC and change clothes in the restrooms. Oh, wait, that won't work -- the restrooms would probably be out of order.

We need to think this through carefully.

Agree with Aus_mal.....A radio is one of the most effective weapons available in any case.. to call in the better trained, better armed support...

..and NO, "rent a cops" or "security guards" with handguns do not really make me feel safer.... in your country OR mine....

Then again - your average Police Officer with a gun doesn't either (except in the sense that an armed officer is presumably a deterrent to some miscreants)- no reflection on THEM, but more the fact that (IME) police firearm training is nowhere near adequate....... and those "security" guys are way behind real cops in that respect (again, IME).... We get both groups using our range facility for "Qualification Courses" and basic training... so I have seen them "in action"....

My view is of course coloured by the fact that I shoot handguns competitively.. and know just HOW difficult they are to use effectively...

Try it some day... it'll give you a new perspective on many Hollywood movies at least!

Because the security standards for firearms in the street are very different than for firearms airside.

I don't really think anyone could pull off the robbery you describe, the getaway would be impossible.

Only if you don't get IDB'd.

Oh, wait -- I've got a better idea.

We can all dress as TSOs with those nifty cloth badges. "Sir, move away from the ATM and return to the security checkpoint NOW! Do you want to refill the ATM today?"

Clarification: It's not that I would feel safer if private security guards were allowed to carry their guns. It's that I don't feel safer because TSA took them away. It's just like the No Fly list: the serious terrorists aren't on the list because of national security concerns, so the only people on the list are people who don't really pose a threat.

correct me if i'm wrong, but you can't be shot just for taking the money (at least not justifiably). i mean, if i attempt to take an expensive piece of jewelry from a store, the private duty cop or security guard working the store aren't going to shoot me.

As an amateur locksmith, I've casually noted more than one combination to the doors leading to the tarmac. Crew isn't much concerned with concealing it. @:-)

Loren, you seem well invested with believing in our security charade. Probably not a good idea if you want to maximize your own safety if you also believe there is a credible threat.

Theoretically, they should not. Theoretically neither should active duty police. Theoretically.

You can be shot in the movies.

Actually, you're correct -- deadly force cannot be used for the defense of property. However, if you pull a gun on the guards and that results in a reasonable apprehension of imminent great physical injury, they can shoot you dead.

?

I've never heard those two words together, before. Is it a hobby?

Yep

In college, all the cool student employees carried a massive ring of keys demonstrating how many rooms they had access to. I, and a few friends, carried two keys. One opened every lock on campus and the second extracted the core of any BEST lock mis-keyed by the professional campus locksmith. I hand-cut the keys with a rattail file.

It didn't help that the pro kept all of the key information on punch cards in a room we had to walk through to reach the academic computing center.

I don't have much call to pick locks these days, but I do have a good appreciation of how poor most security is. That includes airport security, TSA apologists notwithstanding.