Packing heat: 'I forgot' is common excuse at airport

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 27, 2006 | by ANDREA BROWN THE GAZETTE

Lighters, sure.

Screwdrivers, maybe.

In the frenzy to catch a plane, it's easy to forget stuff in your carry-on bag that isn't allowed on the flight.

But guns?

Loaded guns?

It's all in a day's screening for many airport security workers, who discovered 2,149 firearms that were brought to Transportation Security Administration checkpoints across the country in the past year, said Carrie Harmon, spokeswoman for the agency's Rocky Mountain Region.

At the Colorado Springs Airport, two armed passengers were nabbed at the checkpoint in the past 10 days.

Boy, were they surprised -- not the TSA workers, the passengers.

Walter Wayne Wright, 48, of Vancouver, Wash., told Colorado Springs police he was unaware he had a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum in his carry-on bag when he tried to board a morning flight May 20.

Three days earlier, Jennifer Lynne Burghardt, 28, a Utah State University graduate student, put her bag on the X-ray conveyer -- thinking the unloaded .357 Smith & Wesson was in the suitcase she'd left in a closet, out of harm's way.

She was served a misdemeanor summons for unlawful possession of dangerous or deadly weapons at an airport -- and sent on her way with a court date.

Because Wright's weapon was loaded, he was charged with a felony and booked into the Criminal Justice Center before going back to Washington.

"It can be a felony or a misdemeanor," Colorado Springs police Sgt. Matt Harrell said.

"We look at every situation on its own merit. There is not a cut- and-dried answer. It's the totality of the circumstances."

This much is certain: Anyone caught with a gun is photographed and fingerprinted, and the incident goes on his or her permanent criminal record as an arrest.

There's also a good chance of missing the plane, a fate that also may befall those unlucky enough to be in line behind a gun-toter.

"The line stops until we arrive and take control of the situation," Harrell said.

But what if the person has a concealed weapon permit?

"It doesn't matter at an airport," he said.

Unloaded firearms can be checked onto a plane with approval if declared by the passenger in advance.

Passengers caught with firearms give pretty much the same story.

"A myriad of 'I forgot it was in there,'" Harrell said.

Those were the excuses from passengers busted at airports coast- to-coast, including a 79-year-old grandmother with a gun in her tote bag at a Florida airport, an Indiana congressman heading to Washington, D.C., with a loaded Glock pistol, and an off-duty Los Angeles police chief boarding a plane to New York with his handgun and family in tow.

"It doesn't negate that they bring a weapon through a checkpoint," Harrell said.

"There's signs all over. I don't think anyone is surprised you are not allowed to bring a gun on a plane."

WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN'T BRING

Items that cannot be taken aboard airplanes include:

Ammunition Axes Baseball bats Bull whips Cattle prods Corkscrews Dog repellent spray Fireworks Golf clubs Metal scissors with pointed tips Pool cues Portable power saws Screwdrivers Toy transformer robots (a toy that forms a toy gun) Toy weapons

Items that are permitted include:

Walking canes and umbrellas Nail clippers Nail files Tweezers Safety razors (including disposable razors)

Eyelash curlers

Here are some tips for airplane travelers:

Bring a small bag to be placed in carry-on luggage for loose change, jewelry, cell phone and anything else that may set off the metal detector.

Be flexible. Not all trips through the checkpoint will be exactly the same because of TSA's layered screening approach to make it difficult for terrorists to manipulate.

Belligerence, inappropriate jokes and threats are not tolerated at security checkpoints. Jokes and/or comments about threats to passengers or the aircraft will be taken seriously and can result in criminal or civil penalties.

For more information, go to www.tsa.gov.

SOURCE: Source: Transportation Security Administration