I have just completed the ritual of taking off my shoes and belt for my airport gestapo compliance inspection.  The TSA, which identified something suspicious about my briefcase, looked inside and found a foam hand grenade promo that I grabbed at the Shot Show last week.



Apparently this was too dangerous to allow on my flight tonight.  The offending item was confiscated.  So you can all rest easy, the country is safer now.



For those that want to know what this dangerous object looked like, it was pretty much just like this:

they are just doing their job. give em a break. they have to shuffle through 1000's of bags of shit a day and while they COULD be smart and realize thats just a toy..its faster and easier to just take it and throw it in the "no-go" bin.


after all..Im sure these people are getting bitched at 24/7 because some hillbilly wants to bring his 7" straight blade on board with him.

Everyone with Top Secret Squirrel clearance knows what happens when you disolve that thing in the free cup of apple juice they give you during the flight.
You should've known better, shame on you.

Yep

I got this taken from me by TSA on my way back from Ft. Benning:

Be careful, the terrorist want to clog up an airline toilet by jamming one of those foam grenades down the shitter.

Are you insane for even getting one of those, a child could bite off a piece and choke on it, or worse, spit the piece out, hit a flight attendant who would then spill coffee or one of those litte $25 bottle of booze. C'mon man, it's for the children.

It could be worse you could be flying AIR CANADA!
AIR CANADA Flight DC132 request for EMERCENCY LANDING #1
AIR CANADA Flight DC132 #2
AIR CANADA Flight DC132 Part #3

I'm suprised you guys have nothing more to say on this subject??????!!!!!!????

Assuming it's just straight foam all the way through, couldn't they have just sent it through the Xray and seen how harmless it was?

That being said, I'm not surprised.  I remember reading about someone's Glock keychain getting confiscated before a flight.  A small keychain, about the size of your thumb:

i find it funny people are somehow shocked when they get stopped for bringing stuff onto planes that hasnt been allowed for the past 10+ years now."

"OMGZZZ LOOK WHAT NAZI STOLED FROM ME!"

they dont "confiscate" items, you SURRENDER items, willingly.  99.9999% of the time they give you the option of simply going downstairs to check it into the checked baggage if theres an issue with an item.



its spelled out online in the regulations....its posted at the ticket counters...on the doors of airports...and at the checkpoint...no weapons , or weapon like toys.   Have you ever seen a plastic shelled Iranian hand grenade in an xray?  Compare one of those stuffed with plastic explosives to your foam one, then wonder why it isnt permitted, they dont need people freaking out or having an incident.  

Idiots come through airports with loaded pistol mags...but but but, no gun, so why were they taken?  Ive seen plenty of gun type parts in peoples carry ons...it doesnmt matter if its just a toy, or a few pieces, they dont want them going through checkpoints....many many many times, people with not so nice intentions, come through and test security...they see if they can sneak through parts of guns...or toys that look like guns and made of similar materials....then they test and see if materials of certain densities attract attention, particularly in certain shapes/molds.

when you toss even a plastic pellet gun or somethin like a foam hand grenade in the carry on, what goes through your mind... "THIS is a good idea" ?  On xrays the shape is clearly seen, density is also seen, but red flag has already been raised.  

i dont care if its an old pineapple practice grenade on top of a wood plank that has "complaint department , take a number", are you f'in serious that you took it onto your carry on and thought it would be ok?  Use some common sense, and dont complain when your stopped for doing something thats clearly retarded..  Its asking for trouble and inviting attention.

Doesnt matter if your a LEO, LEOs can do bad things, and nothing prevents them from being a terrorist, same goes for military.  McVey, DC sniper, etc, etc, plenty of examples.  There was a guy in the GD here who had a hissy fit they made him take off his steel shank boots, ...as he was military.  Maybe if he understood the regulations that have been in place since like 2001 and beyond, he wouldnt complain and act surprised.  Terrorists use children to smuggle items into places, they have used elderly and mentally as well as physically disabled people as suicide bombers.  There are countless incidents at airports where prohibited items are prevented from getting onto planes, and legitimately bad people are stopped and plots foiled, which go unreported.  If everything made it to the news, no one would feel safe enough to get onto a plane.

ETA: the glock keychain being stopped is indeed stupid, as its evident its not an issue, even on an xray I could tell you that within about .0001 seconds.  I actually got stopped for a bullet keychain a few years ago, and ive stopped other people for the same thing.  Its amazing what one can cook up from simple components, especially over the course of a bit of time on their hands.  When you see common items even like fruit made into an IED, you will take pause, and realize there are real threats out there.

one of the few pics of iranian hand grenades...

If I could swear at you in arabic I would.

you work for the TSA???

2 years I did work for them.....havnt for about a year and a half now.

no, I dont agree with alot of things they do...particularly the checkpoints at train stations and bus stations....but I know how it works, and why they do what they do.  My issue is the constitutionality of it all.  From a safety/security aspect, they make some sense, surprisingly yes.