I don’t consider it a serious crime when an otherwise law-abiding American forgets to remove his everyday carry firearm from his carry on luggage at the airport. The fact that the TSA’s blue-shirted goons intercepted 3,957 guns in 2017 — a new record for the agency! — does nothing to keep me up at night (I leave that to my gf). You might even consider it a victory in the sense that . . .
the statistic indicates that more Americans are carrying firearms than ever before. Or more Americans who carry a firearm are getting old and forgetful. Yes well, add former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour to that list. cbsnews.com:
Barbour — Republican National Committee chairman in the mid-1990s and governor from 2004-12 — tells The Associated Press on Wednesday he was trying to board a flight Jan. 2 from Jackson to Washington.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says a TSA officer at a checkpoint X-ray machine spotted a .38 caliber revolver, loaded with five bullets, in a carry-on bag. TSA contacted airport police, who arrested the former governor.
Who treated the former Governor with all the respect a Louisiana governor turned paid lobbyist deserves.
Barbour said he did not dispute Farbstein’s use of the word “arrest,” though he said he was not handcuffed and no mug shot photo was taken. Barbour described the TSA officers and the airport police as “very nice but very professional.”
“They did exactly what they should have done, which was treat me like anybody else,” Barbour said.
I’d buy that for a dollar! Anyway . . .
It is irresponsible to carry a gun where you are not legally allowed to do so. Assuming you’re not a Mississippi governor turned paid lobbyist, the mistake endangers your gun rights and makes gun owners look bad to [both of] the firearms freedom fence sitters.
That also assumes you’re not doing so on purpose. Which is not a great idea at airport security, but there are other places where such a thing could happen. I mean, you might very well think that but I couldn’t possibly comment.
He was Mississippi’s governor.
He meant to say he will be cell mates with an ex LA govenor.
Actually Edwards got out of jail a few years ago. He even ran for Congress when he got out.
Ditto – he was governor of Mississippi, not Louisiana.
Written by the irresponsible gun writer of the day! Come on. Anyone with any even vague political knowledge knows he was the Governor of Mississippi.
Maybe he could join TTAG as a writer
Maybe he was going to a softball game?
Ooooooo….
Absentminded, if not necessarily stupid… We’ve all been there or are doomed to do so eventually.
The frequency with which this occurs is all the proof we need to reevaluate the laws about weapons possession on flights. A decent compromise might be: fine, you can’t have your gun with you but it also isn’t a crime to forget you have it. When security spots it, they should evaluate your response to determine intent. If they’ve no reason to think you’re about to scream “aloha snackbar” then you are given a choice: borrow this airline-approved lockable case (for a not-so-small fee) so your gun can be checked with the rest of your luggage and you keep your flight and place in line OR you step out of line, probably miss your flight and figure out what to do with your gun on your own.
Making a criminal matter out of these things is just a waste of everyone’s time and resources.
It’s about time. As long as there are lunatics out there flying around with their comfort turkey (or pony or hog or scorpion or spider or any of the other ludicrous examples of the nonsense alllowed to pass as service animals for the emotionally wracked), then I should be allowed to carry a firearm aboard. You bring a comfort peacock and I’ll bring a comfort Glock.
Your Comfort Turkey has to be in 3oz bottles though. Still cheaper than buying it on the flight.
You shouldn’t be absentminded with your guns, knives, wife, etc. They will all get you into some kind of trouble. If you’re irresponsible enough to forget where you put your EDC, you really are too dumb to be trusted. It’s not like airport security screening is a new thing.
This is as dumb as the guy who came on TTAG who worked at Delta behind security, who got fired after carrying into a secure area, got busted, let off with a warning, then did it again.
Amen brother!
Sounds like 3,957 people needed a swift kick in the ass.
Absent mindedness nor stupidity is a crime. No ill intent, no harm, no crime.
Yes, yes its a crime. You need zero intent to be guilty of a crime, that’s not how laws work. Some crimes, 1st Degree Murder, require intent, but there are many different homicide charges, Negligent Homicide. Drunk driving requires no actual damage or harm, just driving drunk. Yes, being an idiot can and will get you convicted for quite a lot of stuff.
If you’re irresponsible enough to forget where you put your EDC, you really are too dumb to be trusted.
I just check my Constitution. I could not find any mention of needing your “trust”. Take a hike prog.
^^^ This….. makes perfect sense.
Mississippi
It shows off-body carry is not a good idea…{!-{P
More proof that oppressive laws are only something that us little people have to worry about. At least Haley didn’t berate the TSA or other agents, like some Democrats or celebs we know.
Yeah, I don’t think any of the folks who have commented on this so far would have avoided handcuffs and all the fun of being arrested. One does wonder, did they return his revolver?
I have a CWP, former police officer, retired and disabled veteran. I have a few pain issues, Fibromyalgia being one of them. Body carry for me is limited to the 3-4 days a month when my pain is controlled. I carry all my handguns (until I bought a LCP last week) in my backpack. Off body carry is just about the only way I can carry a handgun. Each person has to identify what works best for them, and for me it is in my pack.
Get off the big pharma meds and start taking hemp oil/Rick Simpson oil for the pain, then you can carry all the time!
Yea man the dudes at big pill are just keeping you DOWN. More pot – cures everything etc.
I think we’ve reached a point where, if you’re flying, you really should know well enough to make sure you don’t ‘inadvertently’ have a gun in your carry on.
I’d feel worse for someone who takes a wrong turn from Pennsylvania and ends up in NJ or NY and becomes a felon the moment they cross the line… possibly without even knowing they’re in a different state.
A spare round sitting in the bottom of one’s bag that got loose from a forgotten trip to the range is understandable.
A fully loaded handgun is indeed irresponsible.
” Treated like everyone else.”….. If lies were dollars the politicians could personally fix the deficit.
A politician is stupid. Consider me surprised.
In related news: only politicians know what is best for you.
I miss the days when it was normal to see an airline passenger carry his cased rifle as carry-on luggage!
What in the world are you talking about, that has been banned since 1968, that is 50 years ago, and even then it was severely restricted.
So what if it was 50 years ago – Southerner misses those days. And I don’t think you’re correct about this practice being banned since 1968. I carried my .22 rifle on board a flight to visit my brother as a 12-year-old in 1970. I handed it to the stewardess upon boarding, who placed it in the cockpit. I got it back as I de-planed.
so….was he charged. Sounds like a strict liability crime and he is guilty just by showing up with a weapon in his carry on bag. So…was he treated like everyone else and charged? Inquiring minds want to know…..may have to use the Barbour exception myself one day….
Leaving a ship in the middle east (Bahrain) in 1977 as a Chief Warrant Officer, my ceremonial sword was taken up to the cockpit of the commercial airliner I boarded and flew back to the states with the pilot. ( Take me to Cuba or I’ll “run you through?”) Real air piracy prevented!
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