It seems to be the view of the current administration and their supporters that anything worth doing is done best by government. All evidence to the contrary. Healthcare. Banking. Student loans. Automobile manufacturing. Mortgage finance. And who could argue with the unqualified success that is the Transportation Security Administration? Between saving full-body naked passenger images for future viewing pleasure to feeling up toddlers and octogenarians, they’ve shown that they’re everything we’ve come to expect from government-delivered ‘services’. And their personnel are apparently every bit as top notch…

Richard Banks III [not pictured above], a TSA employee, arrived for work at Memphis International airport Friday and slid his bag through the scanner. Only one problem. He’d left a pistol in with his skivvies.

The gun was found during a security check at the terminal’s “A” concourse in a bag belonging to TSA employee Richard Banks III. He told airport police that he forgot the handgun, a 9mm Glock 17, was in the bag.

John Greaud, vice president of operations at the airport, said bringing the gun to the airport was not intentional.

And it wasn’t even Take Your Gun to Work Day. How do you not know you’re carrying a gun?

“He had just grabbed a bag and tossed his clothes in it because he needed to change once he got to work and he didn’t realize a gun was in there,” Greaud said.

Does Banks regularly store the gun in the bag at home? Enquiring minds want to know if he has a safe place to store his gun. Or ever uses it if he does.

A report from the Memphis International Airport Police Department says Banks was issued a misdemeanor citation for unlawful possession of a weapon in lieu of being held in custody.

Though Greaud went to great pains to say Banks was treated the same as any passenger would have been, it does make you wonder if they’d have been as lenient with any Tom, Dick or Darius who had the same mishap.

In the mean time wear your IGOTD award proudly, agent Banks. And take it easy on the next person you find who’s accidently left a pocket knife in their carry-on luggage, OK?

[h/t saysuncle.com]

 

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Bodyscanners and other gadgets are only used because the TSA is Federal daycare for low IQ adults. Our tax dollars are used to fund equipment that compensates for the (diverse) proles’ inability to be trained.

    Compare to Israel, where higher IQ adults with proper training can sniff out real threats without relying on multimillion dollar equipment.

    If you contrast the IQ of the average David ben Yeshua with the average Shaniqua Latoya Jones……an obvious disparity becomes apparent.

    • I’d go with dogs. A Coonhound is going to sniff out the bad stuff but be friendly to the regular people. Plus it’s a better conversationalist then your basic TSA Agent.

      • Plus it’s a better conversationalist then your basic TSA Agent.

        +1. On top of which, coonhounds have a greater than rudimentary intelligence and can follow commands, which cannot be said about TSA agents.

  2. “He had just grabbed a bag and tossed his clothes in it because he needed to change once he got to work and he didn’t realize a gun was in there…”

    Which means that he had at least one gun he couldn’t account for when he was getting ready that morning.

    I can tell you exactly, precisely where every single gun I own is at any moment of any day. I suspect I’m not the only one around here who can say that. That some nitwit who can’t do that is our first line of defense against terrorists does not help me sleep better.

  3. I’m sure he will be fined accordingly, detained, questioned and made to miss his flight. Ooops, no need to worry there. They could fire him for being stupid and putting the lives of thousands of people at risk by bringing such a dangerous and unpredictable weapon into a secure, sterile environment but then again he does that everyday just by showing up for work. This time he had a firearm in his bag.

  4. “It seems to be the view of the current administration…”
    Point taken, but the TSA was the brain-child of the previous administration. Considering those scant and scattered brains from which it sprung, can there be any surprise that the TSA is a train-wreck in progress?

  5. Did this a$$hat receive the same threatment and penalty a “regular” gun-owner would receive? Was he handcuffed? Was he arrested, searched and placed in a holding cell? Will he have to appear before a judge?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    • Answers: No. No. No, no, no. Maybe.

      I think it’s fair to say that Mr. TSA Asshat got better treatment than Jerry Lewis received when he was caught at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas with a gun in his bag. Mr. Lewis was briefly detained and asked for his autograph. He was issued a citation. He was allowed to board his plane. A judge dismissed the charges. The fine was waived. Oh, and Jerry’s gun was returned.

      I’m sure we’d all be equally well treated if we f^cked up. Right?

      /sarcasm off.

  8. Sorry, but without more information, you can’t say that him having a gun in a duffel bag is irresponsible. For all we know, he lives alone, thus there’s no need for him the lock up his gun to keep children from shooting themselves.

    Do you really mean to tell me that you’ve never forgotten something in a pocket or bag?

    • I disagree. He’s asking someone else to trust their life with his product so he put his on the line to prove it was up to the task. If I was important I’d buy it.

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