Media Math
Yesterday, we learned that three = extensive firearms stockpile. Today, we learn that some war trophies and pointy things = small arsenal.
Reading the list of items in his checked bag, I don’t really see the weapons violations. In TN, knives over four inches, clubs, and brass knuckles are unlawful to carry. But, in his checked bag, he wasn’t really carrying them but transporting them. To my knowledge, that is a lawful activity. And inert grenades are just paperweights.
Odd.
January 7th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Someone help me understand (‘cuz I’m lazy) … do you have to declare firearms in checked luggage or weapons in general?
January 7th, 2011 at 10:53 am
@Packetman: Firearms and ammunition have to be declared at the ticket counter. All of the things listed in the “small arsenal” do not.
I found the article interesting, in that the airport spokeswoman stated often passengers are “found traveling with a knife or gun in a checked bag.” Like it is a bad, bad, illegal thing (or something).
January 7th, 2011 at 11:12 am
So they’re charging him with… um… what, exactly? I hope he’s got the number for a lawyer, because I don’t see where he broke any laws.
Stupid TSA.
January 7th, 2011 at 11:59 am
No doubt he was arrested for scaring TSA.
Of course, putting even inert grenades in your luggage strikes me as excessively stupid. What do you really expect the response to be?
Still, I don’t see anything illegal other than making the baggage check agent wet him/herself. (Which isn’t really illegal other than in the pseudo-law that the TSA uses until they can figure out what to charge you with.)
January 7th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Maybe it depends on what “inactive grenade” means. If it just had the fuse/detonator removed it still has explosive material in it. But if that were the case, I would guess he would be hit with more than a misdemeanor.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
The comments are especially lame (some of them).
It’s simply assumed he was a “nutjob” because he had generally perfectly legal (at least mostly; the switchblade in interstate travel is kind of awkward, but he’s not facing Federal charges either, is he?) things in checked luggage.
I, as Ted N, would like to know exactly what the charges are, because the violation of the law here is not remotely obvious.
(The switchblade appears to be at least generally illegal in Nevada – NRS 202.350, but this wasn’t a Nevada arrest.
Apart from that, he could trivially have been going to Nevada to sell that stuff off, perhaps to a collector.)
GD: In theory that’s possible, but I’ve never heard of or seen such a thing; “inactive grenade” always seems to refer to a dummy, practice, or demilled grenade that contains nothing explosive.
January 7th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Way long ago, in the before time, I lived in Texas and my soon-to-be fiance lived in Atlanta. I used to ride the overnight Eastern Airlines cargo flights which allowed passengers, 1 carry on that had to fit in a wooden box at the gate, but no checked luggage.
My sweetheart told me her sink needed fixed once. I boarded the flight with 10″ & 14″ monkey wrenches, a Rigid brand sink wrench, a P-trap, a crescent wrench, and a few other odds and ends, including plumber’s putty and a bit of electrical wiring for another fixit job. After I told the x-ray guard what I was up to, he nodded sagely and wished me a pleasant weekend, “after the honeydo list got finished.”
It was a set of tools for a gentler era, to paraphrase Obiwan.
January 8th, 2011 at 11:43 am
The real question is not whether anything he had was illegal, but whether it was illegal to have in a checked bag. I thought the whole 4th Amendment exception for TSA hinged on the searches not being just general “see what you’re up to” checkpoints.
When we get to the point of being searched whenever we travel (http://www.cogitamusblog.com/2010/12/tsa-comes-to-your-bus-stop-dc-metro-adopts-random-bag-search-policy.html) then we have a full on police state.