Loaded handgun falls out of duffel bag being loaded on plane

[CrimsonSoul]

The TSA says it's not their job to find guns in checked baggage... So what exaclty is their job?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45017716/ns ... s/deck/msn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sorry this was so short I'm on iphone

[OldCannon]

The TSA says it's not their job to find guns in checked baggage... So what exaclty is their job?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45017716/ns ... s/deck/msn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sorry this was so short I'm on iphone

They 100% screen passengers for illegal items and randomly screen checked baggage for explosive devices. A gun in a checked bag is _technically_ not a threat to the security and safety of the United States.

[TLE2]

The sad part of that article was the statement that the bag passed inspection for explosives. Last time I checked, ammunition is filled with explosive powder.

So now will some idiot try to build a bomb out of a loaded magazine and a timer?

[philip964]

But he wasn't arrested for having a loaded gun in California?

[jimlongley]

The TSA says it's not their job to find guns in checked baggage... So what exaclty is their job?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45017716/ns ... s/deck/msn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sorry this was so short I'm on iphone

They 100% screen passengers for illegal items and randomly screen checked baggage for explosive devices. A gun in a checked bag is _technically_ not a threat to the security and safety of the United States.

I've said it here many times before, TSA is not tasked with finding firearms, loaded or otherwise, in checked bags. The only time TSA is supposed to investigate a firearm in a checked bag is if it can be positively identified as being loaded, which is not always possible. Fishing expeditions investigating guns that were possibly not declared or might be loaded are officially frowned on and can be subject to disciplinary action.

Normal firearm ammunition is not a high explosive and is chemically dissimilar from high explosives, so the chemical explosive detectors do not alarm as readily on it, and the only time explosive detectors are used on checked bags is when there is an overflow and manual screening is necessary, or if a suspected explosive is detected by the x-ray.