At least his shoes, belt buckle, and mouthwash bottle were checked rigorously with expensive equipment by overpaid rejects from the Post Office Exam.
What is being ignored in all of this is that the guy was mentally ill. This is not a TSA failure. The article is correct that the guy exploited a loophole, in fact several loopholes, in the process. If he has been in therapy for whatever mental illness he has, how did he come across the gun? This isn’t a TSA problem; this goes back to the old discussion, still not had, as to mental illness and gun ownership, which everyone in control of the discussion will tell us is too soon to have, but never says when it’s time to have it.
Here is where I see the weak link in conceal carry, fire arms in checked baggage and my favorite conceal carry with permit or training-it’s the bathrooms stupid. The one place where we wall ourselves off and want privacy.
Let’s go back to the olden days of Roman with open seating latrines.
Mental illness is often found to be a danger only after the harm is done and is a small part of the daily carnage of gun violence. The 2nd Amendment freedom to weapons provides easy access to tools made to kill and maim. Small wonder they are used exactly as intended
Predicted incoming from Republicans: “Liberals want to ban checked bags!”
Until this tragedy, I had no guns and ammo were allowed in checked bags. So basically we learned nothing from 9/11 and only instituted the illusion of security, rather than security itself.
But he didn’t exploit a loophole. He retrieved his gun from a checked bag. Which means he was outside the security cordon. Anyone could have walked in the front door with a gun in their pocket and done the same thing this guy did, having never been through airport security.
I’m no fan of guns, or their easy availability. But saying that prohibiting guns in checked baggage would have prevented this is nonsense. People are trying to deflect discussion away from the issue of this guy having a gun in the first place, and pretend that more rules in airports would have prevented this.
Since anybody can enter the baggage claim area with a loaded gun concealed in their belongings or clothing, I don’t see how this is a failure of TSA or airport security. This same person could have entered a Target and begun shooting it up. How is that the TSA’s responsibility? The notion that this is the one weakness in our airport security system is simplistic and typical of the media. It’s the failure to adequately regulate guns among the population.
Can’t wait until the NRA extorts all of the Republican Congress into enacting a national Concealed Carry law where the mentally-impaired can fly with their weapons inside the cabin and start shooting when the inflight movie isn’t up to their standards.
Right you are. It’s not the TSA or the airport’s fault.
It’s the Republicans in Congress’ fault for not enacting common sense gun laws…and starting unnecessary wars where we have to enlist underemployed people into the military who are not ready for combat, become unstable, then discharge them dishonorably so they can’t get VA mental health benefits or a job and then let them transport a loaded gun across state lines when you and I can’t carry an 8 oz. bottle of shampoo on board.
It’s the new normal in Trump America. Get used to it…and ducking every time you go to a store, school, church or take your grandkids to a playground.
The lunatics are in charge till we can persuade them that committing suicide and taking your loved ones with you is not a great way to die.
Yes, they will likely ban toothpaste & mascara from checked luggage, now, just for the security theater.
Excellent comment, but I have to ask if you specifically referenced the store “Target” for a reason, or just a coincidence?
No, he wasn’t. The baggage claim area is still restricted to actual passengers, who have passed through security.
Edit: Correction - I was thinking about international arrivals. Different situation.
No, you can’t. Try it.
Edit: Correction - I was thinking about international arrivals. Different situation.
I meet passengers in baggage claim all the time. That and the check-in desks are pretty much the only places non-passengers can be in an airport these days.
Local article with more info on the shooter. Gun, domestic violence, mental illness: The trifecta that normally would have led to murder suicide of family instead of five strangers far away. The common thread is the tool for efficient killing in the hands of a dangerous person not constrained from using it. Also, he was Iraq War veteran who may not have been receiving the full range of help and assistance he needed for his service to the country.
I guess I’m usually coming in to international arrivals, where you certainly can’t do that.
Trump: People should try not to fly. There are too many nut jobs out there with guns. Florida a haven for idiots as they have the worst gun laws in the world along with TX(or south in general). I cant save Amerika from its gun habits. They deserve it.
Thank you for making this point. I see a whole lot of discussion that somehow this was a failure of existing protocols when, in fact, it wasn’t. I recently checked guns on a trip to Alaska, and the security aspect of it added over an hour each way with the additional TSA scrutiny and paperwork. As you point out, this guy could just as easily have walked into the baggage claim area after parking in the garage and arming himself there, much like the recent shooting in the Oklahoma City airport, where an ex-Southwest employee targeted a former co-worker.
Arguments about the crazy American gun culture are legitimate topics, and as a gun owner myself I believe it is way past time for us to deal with the insane numbers of guns in our country. But when someone says this guy “exploited a weakness in the system”, that’s just plain false.