The TSA Cut My Locks

BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 11 months ago

From reddit/firearms.

I was called over the intercom ~2 minutes before people started boarding. I was asked to hand over my key so they could bring it to TSA as they needed to get into my bag. I was not allowed to accompany the key. I made it clear that I am not comfortable with their systematic way of committing felonies; however, this is common practice at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, please see this inquiry which I sent to TSA as both a Security Issue and a Request for Information on November 22nd (anticipating they may ask for the key again).*

A person from Southwest brought the key to TSA and ~10 minutes later another man from Southwest came back with both my spare locks and the key to my original locks. He asked me if I could unlock the spares so they could put them on the case as TSA had cut my other locks. He also stated, “They thought there was a gun in there.” To which I replied, “There are… that’s why I declared them.”

In my opinion the TSA at this airport is guilty of a felony. It is against the law to turn over access to a firearm to someone you don’t know and who is not under your control.

It also disagrees with the TSA’s own rules, where the only person who is allowed to have a key to the lock is the firearm owner.

As I’ve said before, the TSA is an irredeemable, unmitigated clown show.  The TSA can trot employees out all day long (and I see this especially before heavy holiday flying) telling people that it’s really simple and here are the rules, follow the rules and you’ll be okay, blah, blah, blah.

I’ve had the TSA ask me to open my case in the ticket line (Charlotte), take me back behind walls and try to pry my case open (Charlotte), take me back behind walls and ask me to open my luggage, after which she threw my clothing asunder, literally unpacking my luggage and stuffing the clothing back inside the luggage in wads, and never once even showing interest in the firearm case (Phoenix), take me to an X-ray machine and take pictures of my luggage, never once showing interest in opening the luggage and examining the firearm case (Denver), force me to drop my luggage on a conveyor that started at an outside, unsecured location (Denver), ask me to open my firearm case and swab my firearm with a patch (for God only knows what reason), etc.  I could go on.  This isn’t the entire laundry list.

I am tired to death of hearing that it’s the fault of the airline company since the rules vary with each company.  No … they … don’t.  Airlines don’t do firearm or case inspections.  That’s just a pathetic excuse.

Here’s a tip for the TSA.  As long as you act like uneducated goobers and ignore your own laws, you have no right to complain if passengers don’t take them seriously either.


Comments

  1. On December 2, 2019 at 2:47 am, JFP said:

    I had a TSA agent at the security screen/show your papers line ten years ago unable to read my passport correctly. Newly issued passport and he insisted it was expired. He was pointing to the issue date thinking it was the expiration date. Either he was incompetent (in an empty line no less) or was having a joke at my expense as I briefly wonder if my trip is about to be cut short. Neither was comforting.

  2. On December 2, 2019 at 7:46 am, Roger J said:

    Herschel, your experiences explain my reasoning for no longer flying. If I can’t drive to get there, I don’t go. (I understand some people must travel by air in connection with their work. Fortunately, I am not one of them.)

  3. On December 2, 2019 at 8:06 am, ragman said:

    I’m with ya Roger. And I’m a retired airline pilot, I can fly anywhere in the world space available for free. No thanks, I’m not going to be treated like a criminal by some ignorant a-hole.

  4. On December 2, 2019 at 9:34 am, Jack said:

    Unfortunately, I’m one of those that has to fly for work, and I sometimes bring firearms. I had the same demand for keys at Raleigh Durham via Southwest. I decided not to fight so as not to miss my flight. Returning from Reno was a no-hassle zone.

    I’ll probably fly RDU to RNO again, this time via American, and we’ll see how it goes.

  5. On December 2, 2019 at 9:53 am, Fred said:

    I don’t fly. I don’t go to communist states (I have family in those states who are full blown statists. they are no longer my people, I belong to God, they are of their father the devil). I don’t cuss (it took 10 years and lot’s of prayer to quit this ignorant talk). I don’t drink. I don’t surrender my weapons. I don’t go in to gun free kill zones. I don’t go in large crowds. I hate those that hate God. I love those who don’t know God and those that do. I tell the truth (mostly, progress) even if it hurts (and hurts me as well, stop being mealy mouthed Christians!). I don’t support Republicans at all (that ended with Trump’s Red Flag laws)

    I shut down a site wide systems upgrade / update because I told 2 NWO corporate entities that I would be going to church for Easter, leaving Friday to return to drive to my home state, be back sometime Monday, fire me if you like, but I will serve the Lord that day. (hint: I don’t have debt, I can take risks in career and life.)

    These and many others are non-negotiable. America is full of squishes. Don’t be a squish. Stand for something even if it’s hard because, these are the good old days and times are easy. If you won’t stand up now you will fold like a cheap suit when times do get hard, this is a fact of human behaviour. Each one of these decisions was hard, they have had consequences. This is what living for the Lord looks like in pre-war America, we are not one people. The uglier they get the more committed to the Lord we must be. (That’s how persecution of Christians spreads Christianity like wildfire, the truth is irresistible, beautiful even.) Get over yourselves, seek God in all things, do you believe that He will provide or NOT? If you’re still living in the old delusion you must break free. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” That says MADE free, NOT set free. God did not set us free, he made us free, under His terms, by the blood of His Son, we are His slave now, be good at it.

  6. On December 4, 2019 at 4:13 pm, Sanders said:

    My daughter and son-in-law flew with a rifle case (big Pelican 2 rifle size) this past Thanksgiving weekend. They took a redeye home, and the airline (American) lost their luggage – or their luggage didn’t make the connecting flight, which the kids barely made.

    Fortunately, their luggage – all of it – caught up to them a few hours later.

    I try not to fly anymore. The only exception I made was earlier this year when my brother was dying. It was a lot faster than driving 2-3 days cross country, which allowed me to spend more time with him. I didn’t have to worry about taking a firearm with me. He made sure I had one when I got there.

  7. On December 4, 2019 at 4:26 pm, Herschel Smith said:

    @Sanders,

    Yea, the best possible situation. It’s what I do when relatives fly home. Make sure they have one. That way, no muss, no fuss.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "The TSA Cut My Locks", entry #22464 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) TSA,TSA Ineptitude and was published December 1st, 2019 by Herschel Smith.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (284)
Animals (297)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (378)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (87)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (29)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (3)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (229)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (190)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,798)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,672)
Guns (2,338)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (5)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (38)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (114)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (68)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (97)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (62)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (73)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (656)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (980)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (495)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (685)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (62)
Survival (201)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (15)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (25)
TSA Ineptitude (14)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (19)
U.S. Sovereignty (24)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (99)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (419)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.