by Simon 40 Replies latest social current
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/20/congressman.gun/index.html
Some dumb congressman taking a loaded Glock pistol onto an aircraft.
A guy was just jailed for 9 months in the UK for arriving at Heathrow (from Washington Dulles) with amminution in his jacket. But hey, he wasn't a congressman ... just a black guy.
Typical Double-Standard when applying the law! You know the outcome if it were any of us sneaking a gun on board!
Yes, jail him, definately!
Can you say IDIOT...apply the law.
Simon, I'm afraid your hatred for all things American is coming out loud and clear here. So is your bias against gun ownership.
Your examples are comparing apples and oranges.
The congressman had not yet gotten on the plane; he was detained at a pre-screening checkpoint. The article clearly explained that the guy travels a lot, even sleeping in his Washington office. Anyone who travels a lot and has make-do accomodations can easily forget things, especially when mixing business and pleasure travel. I've done it myself a number of times when traveling, a couple of times having to remove a metal corkscrew from my personal kit before they'd let my carry-on bag through. One time I even forgot that I had a miniature Swiss Army Knife on my keychain, and plopped the mass of keys -- knife and all -- right into the tray at the front of the X-ray machine. Boy did that cause a stir! When I went to the UK last December, I completely forgot that little Swiss Army Knife, and carried it on my keychain right through all the checkpoints in the US and the UK. I didn't even know it until I got to Bristol. By your logic I should have been jailed. Your logic leaves no room for human error. Understanding of human error -- that's why the congressman was released after being questioned. It's obvious that the officials in charge of screening have some common sense. What would you have them do? Jail everyone who makes an honest mistake?
Trying to get around the system is a whole different matter.
You provided few details about the guy who arrived in the UK with ammunition in his jacket. It hardly needs to be explained that putting ammunition in one's jacket is not in the same class as grabbing the wrong travel kit, or fogetting about a tiny knife on a keychain. Someone who puts ammunition in his jacket knows exactly what he's doing, and has it there for a reason. No way something like that is accidental. Furthermore, the guy almost certainly pulled some kind of shenanigans to get the ammunition through the checkpoint. Nothing bigger than a miniature Swiss Army Knife could possibly get through the sensitive checkpoint metal detectors.
Apples and oranges, Simon. And double standards due to bias.
AlanF
Anyone who travels a lot and has make-do accomodations can easily forget things,
When I used to carry my (licensed) handgun, I knew at ALL TIMES its location.
Someone who puts ammunition in his jacket knows exactly what he's doing, and has it there for a reason.
I used to hunt a lot with my .22. I was always arriving places with my jacket having shot in the pocket.
Didn't mean I put it there before I left for my destination.
Bryan
Holy Crap, I'm agreeing with AlanF, that's a first :)
Just kidding.
I say toss him in the can for a spell....
Rev
The congressman had not yet gotten on the plane;
Isn't it illegal to cary a gun into an airport?
bryan
So, if someone is caught with a gun they should just be able to say "oops ... I forgot I had it" and everything shoudl be Ok ?
Yes, I'm sure that is a good deterant against people up to no good.
Funny, people who joke that they have a bomb in their bag get thrown in jail but someone with a REAL weapon walks away. Ah ... money and position talks eh?
OK... so what are all of these laws in place for? To prevent terrorists... Whether they be Al Queda (sp?) or some homegrown American who decides he wants to make a name for himself.
This brings me to two points... AlanF.. if you think taking a pocket full of ammo onto a plane is a blatant attempt at hijacking the plane or whatever, then you, my friend, have a problem. If a terrorist were to take a load of ammo onto a plane, what harm could be done with said ammo? There are two ways to set a round off, heat and impact. Heat, well, you arent even allowed a lighter on board I believe. With centerfire cartridges, the impact has to take place in approximately a 1mm x 1mm spot, and have quite some force behind it to set it off. This would take a hammer and a nail just to set the thing off. And even if it COULD be discharged with either of these methods, it would be mostly harmless anyway, because the kinetic energy would be spread around it without a barrel, and would put very little force behind the bullet with next to NO accuracy.
A glock pistol on the other hand.. if the pistol somehow got on board, then this would definitely be a problem. You know how easy it would be to hide a few rounds on a keychain (inside a "lucky rabbits foot" etc)? This would definitely have the potential to kill.
As someone else mentioned, if you forget that you have a lethal weapon on your person, then you don't deserve to even carry it in the first place!
Now this post is not to say that I support the idea of throwing this dumbass in jail just for being retarded. It is impossible to know someone's motive for doing anything, but I highly doubt that this man intended to cause problems on the plane. I say, just use common sense.
Just my humble opinion.
FMZ
