Loaded gun tumbles from checked bag at LAX [Updated]

Loaded gun tumbles from checked bag at LAX [Updated]

latimesblogs.latimes.com

Airport security officials at Los Angeles International Airport failed to detect a loaded handgun that was contained in a traveler's checked bag Sunday, according to several law enforcement sources.

An airport ramp crew discovered the loaded .38-caliber handgun Sunday after it tumbled from an unzipped compartment in a duffel bag they were loading onto Alaska Airlines Flight 563, according to the sources. The aircraft was leaving the terminal at LAX at 8:15 a.m. Sunday, bound for Portland, Ore.

Workers called Los Angeles Airport Police to report the discovery. The owner of the gun was qu

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This was also included in the story...

[FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this post ran with the following headline: "Loaded gun in luggage at LAX escapes detection by TSA." Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for the TSA, said that while the agency screens carry-on luggage for firearms, it is not the TSA's responsibility to screen checked baggage for guns. The agency only screens checked baggage for explosives, she said.]

Can anybody actually explain what this means?

It sounds like it might of been an Air Marshall.

What do they mean they are not responsible for guns in checked bags?

You got to be kidding. They will fondle every orifice...

Yet they are not looking for loaded guns?

Can anyone help me make sense of this story?

latimesblogs.latimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by whyamIhere


If this was carry on luggage then this would be a problem, however I really don't get what the big deal is about a gun in the luggage that a passenger has checked in.

reply to post by whyamIhere


Basically you are separated from your checked bags long before you get on the plane and you have no access to them after that, so a loaded gun will do no harm. Explosives can be detonated remotely so checked bags are supposedly "sniffed" for them.

what Im seeing is that TSA dropped the ball huge on this one, I thought their stuff could detect small amounts of explosives? what do you think is in the bullets and the primers >>>>>>>>>>>>

It is completely fine to have a gun in your checked baggage but it is suppose to be unloaded in a locked container and declared at check in. Sounds like this guy just had it in there without telling anyone and they missed it.

Sounds like more groping is coming along soon. Or more security.

Problem: gun
reaction: OMG.. we are all gonna die!!!!!!!
solution: all luggage has to be see though, and you cannot wear clothes on flights anymore

Originally posted by gunshooter
what Im seeing is that TSA dropped the ball huge on this one, I thought their stuff could detect small amounts of explosives? what do you think is in the bullets and the primers >>>>>>>>>>>>

They do that more than you would think... TSA is a failure.

Just google TSA red team if you don't believe me.

TSA red team, being a team that TSA has, that looks for weaknesses and problems within their security checking systems.... They will have agents go through unexpected with guns, and other such things....

Most get through with little to no problem....

I wonder...I just wonder if there is a REALLY expensive machine that could detect these things!
I wonder how much it would cost to equip all major airports with one.
I wonder if there is a company that makes such things.
I wonder what kinds of profit they could make by supplying such a device.
I wonder if they've already made a bundle of cash from other 'detection' equipment at major airports.
I wonder if there will be some kind of requirement passed that means that such a machine needs to be in place in major airports.
I wonder if there could be any dots connected to these companies that make such equipment, and major purchases by the TSA.

Makes me wonder. That's all. I'm not cynical or anything.

Originally posted by whyamIhere
Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for the TSA, said that while the agency screens carry-on luggage for firearms, it is not the TSA's responsibility to screen checked baggage for guns. The agency only screens checked baggage for explosives, she said.]

Wow-that's comforting-the TSA is a joke-ugh.....

Originally posted by whyamIhere
You got to be kidding. They will fondle every orifice...

Yet they are not looking for loaded guns?

They are looking for loaded guns in carry-ons.

Who cares if there are guns in checked bags? Those are legal for domestic flights if they are declared, though it shouldn't have been loaded.

They only search children for guns - TSA = bloody perverts!

Originally posted by InSanE1
reply to post by whyamIhere

 

If this was carry on luggage then this would be a problem, however I really don't get what the big deal is about a gun in the luggage that a passenger has checked in.

You are to declare you weapon to the check in counter.
It is to be carried in a locked case without any ammo
You must have your receipts and other papers like permits and proof of ownership in order to transport.
If approved the case is placed in another container where it will be taken from counter to counter where you will pick it up.
Pretty much that is the procedure for transporting a gun on an airplane.

wow they dint check checked baggage for hand guns because passengers have no access to cargo area well on some of the larger plans might the flight crew have access. if so now you have just told someone how to sneak weapons on board and all they got to do is just embed some terrorist into flight crew. real smart tsa and homeland security is

reply to post by whyamIhere


Its legal to fly in an airplane with a gun. The gun must be in your checked baggage, must be declared to the check in agents where you get your ticket. Since the checked baggage goes in the cargo hold, a gun is not a threat, however bombs are.

Transporting a weapon requires it to be in a carrying case and locked and if I remeber right no ammo at all is allowed.

Hence the TSA response about checked bags.

Check the DHS / TSA website as well as your airline you are flying on for updated regs about transporting firearms on a flight with checked luggage. I am going to assume that since the bag was already unzipped its possible it was checked by security / TSA / law enforcement.

If your checked bags are searched there should be a pamphlet in the bag letting you know it was opened and checked.

Originally posted by proteus33
wow they dint check checked baggage for hand guns because passengers have no access to cargo area well on some of the larger plans might the flight crew have access. if so now you have just told someone how to sneak weapons on board and all they got to do is just embed some terrorist into flight crew. real smart tsa and homeland security is

This kind of reminds me of the arument about the dangers of arming the flight crew (pilots / co pilots). That argument made no sense to me since if they want to kill people all they have to do is fly the plane into something. As far as staff having access to the cargo hold area, I was under the impression the baggage is contained in pods that are designed to contain / minimize an explosion. I dont think they have access to the bag compartments.

I could bd wrong though. Anyone else know?

So to summarise, the security procedures at a major airport failed to identify a .38 , which only came to be noticed when it fell from luggage. Loaded.

Does this not invalidate the entire argument for the outrageously long reach of airport security protocol? I was under the impression, from whats been said in the last three to four years about the whole issue of airport security, that one cannot pass through a security station at a U.S. airport of this size, without being searched, and scanned with x rays.

Is this now NOT the norm? And if the baggage which contained the offending item was actually scanned, why did the machine not find the weapon, why did the operator of that machine not register the presence of an item which is clearly prohibited on an aircraft.?

The fact that this fire arm was NOT located , even after the professionally applied (I did have to stifle a laugh there) security arrangements by airport/TSA staff. This , in my opinion looks to me like a massive failing of the rules and regulations now being applied to airport security. The U.S. government cannot justify the Orwellian levels of security at airports, unless they can deliver that security PERFECTLY every single time.

It is hard enough to justify the increasingly disturbing levels of snooping performed by the U.S. government,on its own citizens, without stories like this comming to light. What an out right balls up!

reply to post by TrueBrit


The news media is misreporting what occured.

It is legal to pack a gun into the luggage that is checked into the cargo bay. Those luggage pieces are checked into the TSA near the ticket counter. Those bags are only check ed for explosives since thats the only danger that can come from the cargo hold.

Passengers then head to their gates, where they and their carry on bags are checked through security.

In order to travel with a gun CHECKED in it must be in a locked case, unloaded, no ammo. In this case it looks like it was checked since the bag was unzipped. However im not sure why it was A - loaded B - not in a sdecure locked container.

Other than that no crime was committed that we know of. Declaration of a weapon in your check in is required to the airline, not security.

Originally posted by whyamIhere
This was also included in the story...

[FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this post ran with the following headline: "Loaded gun in luggage at LAX escapes detection by TSA." Lorie Dankers, a spokeswoman for the TSA, said that while the agency screens carry-on luggage for firearms, it is not the TSA's responsibility to screen checked baggage for guns. The agency only screens checked baggage for explosives, she said.]

Can anybody actually explain what this means?

It sounds like it might of been an Air Marshall.

What do they mean they are not responsible for guns in checked bags?

You got to be kidding. They will fondle every orifice...

Yet they are not looking for loaded guns?

Can anyone help me make sense of this story?

latimesblogs.latimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 23-10-2011 by whyamIhere because: added comment.

edit on 23-10-2011 by whyamIhere because: (no reason given)

Ok news flash... If you are a terrorist... forget the explosives... just bring on loaded hand guns...

Thanks for the replies and the explanations.

The fact that it was loaded and not locked in a case bothered me.

Could not a stray bullet bring down an aircraft? I am really asking.

It seems to me that Airlines should handle their own security.

I just think this layer of Government is growing in size.

I also think the TSA is growing in incompetence.