WAR: TSA to loosen carry-on rules

The Transportation Security Administration will decide this month whether to ease requirements on carry-on items for screeners to check. Small knives and razorblades will be allowed and several types of passengers will be exempt from screening.



I thought this was bogus at first, but I verified the story. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this how the WTC and the Pentagon got attacked in the first place?

Now, they're considering allowing knives, razors, and even bows and arrows? And, only screening certain people? So, if I get searched, does that mean I'm "flagged" in the system?

Can we say one step forward and two steps back?

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Well it goes both ways. My dear old mother had her sewing scissors confiscated that she had passed down from her mother. My mother is not a threat to anyone and this goes for many if not most passengers travelling today.

Searches here in Australia are done randomly, my daughter was picked out for a search because she was talking on an airport phone to her friend about her fear of bombs on the plane. My husband was searched another time when he was just picking up his brother from the airport. He wasn't flying and he was past the security zone... I guess he just looks criminal

and i never get searched or patted down....

it is an embarrassment to have happen with everyone looking at you weird like your some kind of drug runner or terrorist

Its a choice, forgo your rights of freedom for security, what do you choose.

"TSA to loosen carry-on rules"

i (aka tSA) will not loosen carry-on rules...

this is a false statement...

The TSA is a joke. Not only do they want to let knives, throwing stars bows and arrows on, but they want to stop screening some passengers altogether. Another part of this story is that they want to make on duty pilots, high ranking military officers, and people with Top Secret security clearances exempt from screening.

I was a screener before the TSA came along, and we were one of the best in the nation. We checked 10 times as much as the TSA does, had MUCH better training and used the machines the way they were meant to be used, unlike the TSA, and did it with half as many people. I heard a supervisor complaining one day that if they wanted them to check all of one type of item in the bags, they'd need more people because he only had 9 people to run one x-ray and walkthrough metal detector. I used to be supervisor at that same checkpoint, and checked a lot more than the TSA ever has, with 6 people to run the entire checkpoint, two lanes, two walkthroughs, plus bag checking. We had a requirement at the checkponit for 7 screeners, I was usually the 7th as the supervisor and wasn't really supposed to screen bags.

[edit on 14-8-2005 by Zaphod58]

Now add these to the following topic on the TSA.

Ex-official tells of Homeland Security failures
www.usatoday.com...

While in office, Ervin made some scathing findings. He reported that:

• Undercover investigators were able to sneak explosives and weapons past security screeners at 15 airports during tests in 2003.

• Federal air marshals, hired to provide a last line of defense against terrorists on airlines, slept on the job, tested positive for alcohol or drugs while on duty, lost their weapons and falsified information in 2002.

• Department leaders should have taken a more aggressive role in efforts to combine the government's myriad terrorist watch lists since the department was created in 2003.

• The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) gave executive bonuses of $16,477 to 88 of its 116 senior managers in 2003, an amount one-third higher than the bonuses given to executives at any other federal agency.

• The TSA spent nearly $500,000 on an awards banquet for employees in November 2003. The cost included $1,500 for three cheese displays and $3.75 for each soft drink.

Waste, possible fraud reported at TSA
www.cnn.com...

A Transportation Security Administration official spent $500,000 on art, silk plants and other decorations for a new operations center and then went to work for the vendor after leaving the agency.

The operations center, located just outside Washington, has a 4,200-foot fitness center with a towel laundry service for 79 federal employees. It also has seven kitchens equipped with refrigerators, microwave ovens, ice makers and dishwashers.

The report said that the center's offices and work stations were larger than federal standards allow and that most had cable television.

The inspector general found that the project manager and other TSA employees routinely violated agency policies to buy furniture, leather briefcases, coffee pots and other items.

Once again, let me remind all those who still don't get it.
THE WORLD AROUND YOU HAS BEEN PURCHASED BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T CARE ANYTHING ABOUT YOU, YOUR SAFETY, YOUR HEALTH, YOUR FUTURE OR ANYTHING ELSE!!!! WAKE UP AND SAVE YOURSELF BY REFUSING TO GO ALONG WITH THEIR B.S.!!!

Terrorism alert for September and the TSA is going to cut down on screening.

What's wrong with this Picture? Am I missing something?

I think they went a bit overboard originally in banning sewing equipment, knitting needles, etc. but bows and arrows and throwing stars? Why in the hell would anyone need to bring these things in a carry-on bag? It sounds insane to me!