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Guns, Chain Saws Seized from Air Passengers
U.S. airport baggage screeners, displaying seized chain saws, machetes and knives, warned travelers to check their luggage for offensive objects before boarding a flight. Chain saws? Officials of the Transport Security Administration, speaking ahead of this weekendâs Labor Day holiday -- a busy travel time -- said that since February 2002 more than 7.5 million prohibited items had been seized. They included 50,000 box cutters -- a weapon said to be used by the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers -- and 1,437 firearms as well as 2.3 million knives. I used to always carry a small pocket knife, but who knew that box cutters were such a popular item? Since the Sept. 11 attacks screeners have confiscated seemingly harmless items like nail clippers and cigarette lighters from passengers. But some carry more obviously dangerous items. Chain saws, a weed cutting machine, hand saws and machetes, steak knives, bottles of camping stove fuel and perfume bottles shaped like hand grenades were among items displayed as a sample of objects seized at New Yorkâs John F. Kennedy International Airport. "Mr. Jason, would you please remove the hockey mask and please explain how the chain saw and machete got in your carry on bag?" While some carry-on items may have been innocent -- a hockey stick or a childâs plastic sword -- other discoveries by TSA have yielded razor blades in tennis shoes and a bayonet hidden in a hollowed-out artificial leg. Iâd want to have a good long talk with pegleg. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-28 |
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