Passengers in TSA lines discussing ammo.


Posted On: Friday - September 9th 2022 4:54PM MST
In Topics: 
  US Police State  Americans  Liberty/Libertarianism  Guns



The Babylon Bee site sure writes great headlines, so my title is a takeoff on the HBO TV show (Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee- only seen one episode) as was their Apple TV+ Announces New Show 'Clintons In Cars Killing Witnesses'. Heh!

Well, this is a post going in a happier direction than all the curmudgeonly ones of late.

First, let it be said (yet again here) that the TSA - Fed "security" at airports) is an unConstitutional piece of Security Theater. The same could be said for their umbrella department or ANY government department with a name like Motherland Security.* Peak Stupidity has a number of posts deriding the idea of the TSA appropriately with the US Police State topic key. There have been 20 years of this clear violation of US Constitution Bill of Rights Amendment IV. I'd say that this Totalitarianism is more clearly spelled out than anything the Feds have done in the PanicFest even - not that I agree with any of that either.

OK, people don't care anymore, and some never did, I know. I have tried harder not to take out my disappointment and disgust with the process of airport security on individuals, with occasional relapses. This medium-sized airport through which I go often is one in which I recognize many of the TSA people. One, who is a manager of the show, knows me by name, and likewise. We get along very well.

As I was chatting with this gentleman at his desk/counter, I heard behind me one of the "agents" say "this lady had a bullet in her stuff". "Cartridge, dammit!... " is what I wanted to say, but I didn't know the difference either many years back. What was heartening was that no big fuss was made. I didn't see anyone get tackled, the airport cop get called, or even anyone given a hard time.

Just take the thing out, cause, you know, terra. The nice shiny steel cartridge was on the counter, and I remarked "is it a .380, no 9, no wait, it's longer right, a .32?", thinking out-loud basically. The TSA manager agreed it was a thirty-two caliber round, and then we talked handguns for about 5 minutes. He's got a .25 as his only semi-auto but a number of revolvers such as a .32. I told him about a couple of mine, and well, nobody gave a rat's ass about that cartridge sitting there as I left to go to the gate.

That was nice. That was more American than anything I'd have seen at that London Heathrow pit of misery (see "relapse" link above). I wish the whole operation were not there, and this very nice manager could be manager of something else, but this made my day.


PS: It's not like loads of these things, guns along with ammo, don't get found in luggage daily**, and I'm sure quite a few go on through. I saw an internal TSA memo about 10 years back that had a 2-page, probably 40 item list of guns found in bags at US airports in one week. Per the spread-sheet style print-out, about half were loaded, and a couple had bullets in the chambers. Do we have THAT many un-profiled American terrorists in our land? No, these are the good Americans, and the good guys having weapons is a good thing!


* Well, it's like that, right?

** A friend of mine had his Glock in his his hand luggage headed on a ski trip. He had to go talk with the cops, but he made his flight. The part that burns me up is that he never got that gun back. (Fines are one thing, but you can't just take STUFF.) Later, I met a TSA higher-up (office guy) on a flight and told him this story. After the story I told him "Don't worry. He's got plenty more of them."

Comments:
Moderator
Monday - September 12th 2022 7:37AM MST
PS: That was a great one by the ICE guy, Alarmist. Many of these people are pissed that they can't do their jobs - what their jobs SHOULD BE, anyway. I've talked to some.

It feels good to run into people who are not on our side just with talk, but with a little action or help at least.
The Alarmist
Saturday - September 10th 2022 1:13PM MST
PS

My most memorable TSA moment was the guy who took a quick glance in my briefcase, then said, “Don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys,” and promptly sent me on my way.

I had one ICE guy in a Citizen and Resident line who realized my wife was a non-resident foreigner and probably should have sent us to the much longer foreigner line, but instead smiled and said, “We don’t separate families.” This was during the hubbub about Trump separating families of detained illegals, which was actually a policy carried over from the Obama years.

There are still some humans in those agencies.
SafeNow
Saturday - September 10th 2022 12:49PM MST
PS

Only one encounter for me. At a family Christmas, I received a “Joke of the Day” calendar. It was one if these one-page-per-day things, forming a pad, a small solid box. At TSA, it looked unfamiliar on X-ray, so they led me to a table to unpack it. After they saw what it was, I asked “Okay, how much trouble am I in?” The agent replied “Why do you think you are in trouble?
I replied “Because I know the TSA doesn’t like jokes.”
Moderator
Friday - September 9th 2022 9:12PM MST
PS: Haha, TSA, some of them do that, don't they, Kilroy. I just know "Thousand Standing Around".

I'm glad you liked the title, Alarmist.
The Alarmist
Friday - September 9th 2022 5:30PM MST
PS

Just reading the title of this post made me think of those references. Well done.

TSA ... Because “Terminate and Stay Resident” wasn’t quite enough.
Kilroy Is Here
Friday - September 9th 2022 5:08PM MST
PS The Testicle Safety Assessors should pass out fweedom fwies or are they with us?
I sometimes wear an olive drab shirt with a dozen different guns on it to trigger weak worldlings and laugh with a sly grin.
Soft weak emasculated societies detached from reality will be put out of the misery by enemies internal and external.
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