[url]http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=30490[/url]

Be careful with fireworks. That's always a good idea.
Now, with added airport security, being careful with luggage that once contained fireworks is a good idea, too.

If you've handled fireworks, the residue could stay on your skin for days. That's a big problem if you plan to fly.

If you take a bag used to carry fireworks and try to take it on a plane, that's a potential problem, too.

This will be the first 4th of July that all checked baggage will be inspected using sophisticated equipment that checks for explosives residue.

The Transportation Security Administration wants the traveling public to know that carrying fireworks on a plane has been illegal for years. Getting caught can lead to a five-year prison sentence and a hefty fine.

'traveling public'!  Sheesh, more like 'temporary human occupants of the system'.  Flying today, it just terrible.  Sure you can get used to it, but you can get used to pretty much anything.  The airlines can no longer successfully advertise as being a luxury travel method, when everyone is treated as a potential terrorist.  Oh, silly me, I forgot...we're at war...

By the way, that same fine and time can be levied by taking can of spray right guard on board, it's just that they all let that slide.

I happen to fit the profile of someone to watch out for in the airports.  I must, because I get searched thoroughly every time I fly.  A couple of times twice...once at the first terminal where I am (like always) pulled aside and have my carry-on looked through...and a few times twice where I was pulled out of line while starting to board the aircraft and searched again.  I even asked one time what profile I fit, but was told it was random...I doubt it.

In my opinion, I am the last person that would fit any negative profile.  I just dont stand out.  Short hair, no tattoos, about 1/4 German then a mix of about every Euro-Trash lineage there is...plus a little Fox Indian to boot.  I tend to dress like a typical bedwetting yuppie.

Anyways, to get to the point, one time when my baggage was getting checked for explosive residue I told the person that I was a firearms collector and wondered if blackpowder or smokeless powder would trip the sensors...I was told it would not...it looked for other substances.

Just my experience, FWIW.  The person I talked to could have been a moron, or lying.  Or both.   :-)

For reasons I won't go into here, I once used my range bag as a carryon (all gun-related stuff removed, filled with clothes and my shaving kit.)

The security guy wiped it with a rag and ran the wipe through the explosives detector.

BINGO!  A hit.

They then ransacked my carryon.  I explained to them that it was normally my range bag.  That seemed to calm them down.

I am also involved in the fireworks industry down here and asked during the Sydney olympics closing ceremony (I was on the harbour bridge)if we would be stopped all the time by the explosive sniffer dogs that were running around. The answer was no, dogs were not trained to detect black powder. Dont know about the chemicals in smoke less powder though, and electronic sniffers may be a problem.