TSA Week in Review: Disassembled Gun and Ammo Found in Three Stuffed Animals

Disassembled Gun and Ammo Found in Three Stuffed Animals - TSA Officers at Providence TF Green Airport (PVD) noticed what appeared to be a disassembled firearm on the X-ray screen of baggage belonging to a father and his small child. Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) were called to the checkpoint and after searching the bag, they discovered a disassembled weapon hidden in three of the child’s stuffed animals. The main frame of a .40 caliber firearm was in one animal. A magazine loaded with two .40 caliber rounds and firing pin was inside another. The slide was inside third stuffed animal. All of the necessary components to assemble a fully functional loaded firearm were artfully concealed in the three stuffed animals. This is just another example that threats can appear anywhere and this is why our Officers take a closer look at everything. It’s also an example that shows that even though we’ve made changes to how we screen children 12 & under, the security process is still just as effective. Congratulations to our Officers at TF Green Airport for a great find!

Simulated Semtex-H – Once again, an explosives training aid was discovered at a TSA checkpoint. This time it was at Fort Walton Beach (VPS) and it involved a block of simulated Semtex-H explosive. We had no way of knowing it was simulated until after we had gone through all of the motions.

Hollowed Out Book – A hollowed out book containing narcotics and drug paraphernalia was discovered at Denver (DEN). As I’ve said many times before, we’re not looking for drugs, but when we find them, we have to report them. So… please don’t bring them. It’s yet another example of how a normal everyday item can be used to conceal items.

Mace Gun – It looks kind of like a 1950’s era sci-fi ray gun, but officers at Newark (EWR) discovered a mace/pepper gun.

Ammo in Pocket Found With Body Scanner – TSA Officers at Baltimore (BWI) discovered 13 rounds of ammunition in the front pocket of a passenger who went through a body scanner.

People Say the Darndest Things - Here are examples of what not to say at the airport. Statements like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience lots of other passengers if the checkpoint has to be evacuated:  

• A passenger at Amarillo (AMA) stated “I have a bomb on my body” twice. As if once wasn’t enough?
• While having his bag searched at Tucson (TUS) due to an explosive trace detection alarm, a passenger stated “Watch out for the explosives.”

Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also found firearm components, realistic replica firearms, stun guns, brass knuckles, a ginormous amount of knives, ammunition, and batons.

Firearms - Here are the firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure. 

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Blogger Bob Burns

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA. 

Individuals on The No Fly List Are Not Issued Boarding Passes

There is a good chance you've probably heard about an incident where a toddler and her parents were removed from a flight because it was believed that the child was on the No Fly List. It turned out an airline computer glitch is what caused the confusion.

With that said, I wanted to take a few moments to explain the No Fly List. The No Fly list is maintained by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). Here is some information from a post I wrote a few years ago.

The No Fly List is a list of individuals who are prohibited from boarding an aircraft. Another list – the "Selectee" list - is a list of individuals who must undergo additional security screening before being permitted to board an aircraft. After 9/11 the TSC was created through a Presidential Directive to be administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, in cooperation with the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, and Treasury, as well as the Central Intelligence Agency. The purpose for the TSC is to consolidate terrorism based watch lists in one central database, the Terrorist Screening Center Database (TSDB), and make that data available for use in screening. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies nominate individuals to be put on the watch list based on established criteria, with the list maintained by the TSC. The No Fly and Selectee lists are subsets of the TSDB and are maintained by the TSC.

The terror watch lists keep legitimate terror threats off of airplanes every day, all over the world. According to the GAO, terror watch lists have "helped combat terrorism" and "enhanced U.S. counterterrorism efforts."

This is a good opportunity for me to segue into Secure Flight. Secure Flight is a behind-the-scenes program that streamlines the watch list matching process. It improves the travel experience for all passengers, including those who have been misidentified in the past.

As far as how someone gets on the No Fly list, the TSC has to add them to the TSDB, and they can't do that unless the person is known, or appropriately suspected to be, or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism, before they are included in the TSDB per the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6. (HSPD-6.)

If you have been told or suspect you are on the No Fly List, let me ask you these questions: Have you obtained a boarding pass? If so, you are not on the No Fly List. Have you flown? You would not be allowed on a flight if you were on the No Fly List. 

Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA. 

TSA Week in Review: Plastic Dagger Found With Body Scanner

Plastic Dagger Found With Body Scanner – A passenger at DTW had a plastic dagger hidden in the hemline of her shirt. This is an example of the body scanner showing its strength by finding non-metallic weapons.

Knife Mounted on Walker: Yes, the kind of walker that assists one with walking... Usually, the only attachments you see on walkers are tennis balls, but this one had a knife mounted on the front. Just another example of why we take a closer look at even the most common of items. Great job to the Officers at New York's JFK.

Tomahawk – Denver (DEN) Officers discovered a tomahawk in a carry-on bag. Not a Tomahawk missile, but a bladed projectile.

Replica Grenades and Mines –It’s been another busy week for grenades and mines. Inert grenades were discovered by Officers at Tampa (TPA) and Savannah (SAV). Training Claymore mines complete with shrapnel were discovered at Newark (EWR). You would think that these items would be a rare find, but apparently that’s not the case. I know I’ve said it over and over, but for anybody who may be new to reading this post, we realize that replicas are totally harmless, however, we don’t know that until we’ve gone through all of the motions. Read here and here for more information on why inert items cause problems at checkpoints.

Biohazard – You can imagine the look on the Officer’s face in Austin (AUS) when they discovered a label on a package that read “Class 6 Biohazard.” After Police and Austin Fire responded, they learned the item was a water and borax solution.

Spearguns are Prohibited – I remember when I used to train TSOs. They would laugh when I mentioned Spearguns while going over prohibited items. They couldn’t believe that anybody would actually try to bring one on a plane. Well…in addition to all of the other ones we’ve found, the latest was discovered at Raleigh-Durham (RDU).

Throwing Stars – Your Kung Fu is no match for our Officers. With a few acrobatic moves and defensive measures, Officers at Salt Lake City (SLC) and LaGuardia (LGA) found a total of three throwing stars. Good job, grasshoppers.

People Say the Darndest Things - Here are examples of what not to say at the airport. Statements like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience lots of other passengers if the checkpoint has to be evacuated:  

• While waiting in line to be screened at St. Louis (STL) a passenger nodded to another unidentified passenger, and stated to a TSO, “You better check this guy good, he has explosives.” 
• A passenger within earshot of our Behavior Detection Officers at Tucson (TUS) stated: “I did not want you to notice the bomb in my shoe.”

Miscellaneous Prohibited Items - In addition to all of the other prohibited items we find weekly, our Officers also found firearm components, realistic replica firearms, stun guns, brass knuckles, pepper spray, quite the assortment of knives, ammunition, and batons.

Firearms - Here are the firearms our Officers found in carry-on baggage since I posted last Friday.

You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure. 

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.

Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA. 

More Than 1 Million Passengers Screened by TSA Pre✓™

There was no confetti or sirens, but the one millionth passenger was screened by TSA Pre✓™  today. Not only are the TSA Pre✓™ participants growing in number, but the locations are also growing. United Airlines, Jet Blue and US Airways as well as some additional airport locations around the nation will begin operations this year.

Currently, TSA Pre✓™ is operating with American Airlines at airports in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, New York (JFK), Minneapolis and Los Angeles, with Delta Air Lines at airports in Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York (LGA), Orlando, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Washington, DC and Alaska Airlines in Seattle.

In case you’re wondering what TSA Pre✓™ is, you can go here to read all about it. Long story short, it’s an initiative that allows passengers to expedite their screening experience if they opt in. How do you opt in to TSA Pre✓™? Funny you should ask… Just go here.

TSA Pre✓™ is only one of our risk based security initiatives. Be sure to read about our other initiatives:

TSA Pre✓™ Expedited Screening

Screening for Active Duty U.S. Service Members

Screening for Passengers 12 and Under

TSA to Begin Limited Test of Modified Screening for Passengers 75 and Older

Expanded Behavior Detection Pilot

Keep an eye on our TSA Pre✓™ page for future announcements.

Blogger Bob Burns  

TSA Blog Team

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.

TSA’s Civil Rights and Liberties Program

When something doesn’t go right at a security checkpoint, TSA wants to know about it. Getting feedback from passengers is one of the best ways we can improve the security experience for everyone and address any problems that could be occurring in the security system. 

With a workforce of more than 50,000 people all over the country, our workforce reflects the diversity of the American people we serve.  Our employees come from just about all of the ethnic and religious backgrounds as the travelers who pass through our checkpoints, and our workforce is trained regularly about religious and cultural issues that could arise during the screening process. 

   

In our mission to protect all people when they travel, our workforce is committed to treating each person with dignity and respect throughout the screening process. TSA does not profile passengers on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion. As a former field employee who wore many hats, I can say firsthand that TSA does not and has never trained or condoned racial profiling. We continually engage with a wide variety of stakeholder groups to help us understand unique passenger concerns, and we appreciate their support in sharing passenger feedback about the screening process.

We encourage any traveler who believes they have been treated differently or unlawfully discriminated against by a Transportation Security Administration employee to file a civil rights or civil liberties complaint with TSA’s Disability and Multicultural Division by going to the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties’ web page. All claims are investigated, and again, information provided to us helps us continuously improve our security system.

Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team 

If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.