2dogs
September 19, 2003, 08:54 PM
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34693
Screener's wife caught
with gun at airport
But TSA manager's spouse won't be charged with law violation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September 19, 2003
5:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
The wife of a Transportation Security Administration manager at Denver International Airport won't be charged with a crime after screeners discovered a handgun in her purse.
The Denver Post reports 35-year-old Helene C. Nance was arrested Tuesday after screeners discovered a .380 semi-automatic handgun, seven live rounds and a magazine in her purse as it made its way through an X-ray machine.
Though such finds have often resulted in federal gun charges, Nance – an on-call secretary for the airport's human resources department – won't be charged because, state attorneys said, she did not appear to have intentionally violated the law.
"One of the elements we have to prove is mental state. We do not feel we could prove intent," Lamar Sims, chief deputy district attorney of Denver, told the Post.
Her husband, the paper said, is J.B. Nance, one of 20 TSA screening managers at the airport. Critics believe she wasn't charged because he is a senior TSA official.
Oftentimes – mistake or not – felony charges are leveled against perpetrators, said the Post. But records show in many other cases, charges have not been filed against people who have brought guns into airports
The Virginia-Pilot reported in March that five people had been caught carrying guns into Norfolk International Airport, but none had received jail time.
The Pilot said federal prosecutors had declined to push for incarceration, ostensibly to keep pace with similar cases around the nation.
While one suspect received penalties of up to three years probation and a $4,000 fine, the Pilot said, others of the five paid fines of as little as $75.
Guns are permitted inside airports and can be transported aboard planes, as long as they are stowed in the cargo hold. But weapons must be declared to ticketing agents, transported in hardened, locked cases, unloaded and subjected to inspection by TSA personnel.
Mrs. Nance told police she usually carries her gun in her car. However, she had placed it in her purse the day before when she put the car in the shop for repairs.
As to disciplinary action, airport officials have confiscated her employee badge indefinitely, the paper said. She can't work at the airport without one, say officials.
Airport spokesman Steve Snyder said she will undergo a review by security officials and could face further personnel action.
The Post said the TSA has seized about 1,500 guns since the agency took over responsibility for airport security last year.
Screener's wife caught
with gun at airport
But TSA manager's spouse won't be charged with law violation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: September 19, 2003
5:00 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
The wife of a Transportation Security Administration manager at Denver International Airport won't be charged with a crime after screeners discovered a handgun in her purse.
The Denver Post reports 35-year-old Helene C. Nance was arrested Tuesday after screeners discovered a .380 semi-automatic handgun, seven live rounds and a magazine in her purse as it made its way through an X-ray machine.
Though such finds have often resulted in federal gun charges, Nance – an on-call secretary for the airport's human resources department – won't be charged because, state attorneys said, she did not appear to have intentionally violated the law.
"One of the elements we have to prove is mental state. We do not feel we could prove intent," Lamar Sims, chief deputy district attorney of Denver, told the Post.
Her husband, the paper said, is J.B. Nance, one of 20 TSA screening managers at the airport. Critics believe she wasn't charged because he is a senior TSA official.
Oftentimes – mistake or not – felony charges are leveled against perpetrators, said the Post. But records show in many other cases, charges have not been filed against people who have brought guns into airports
The Virginia-Pilot reported in March that five people had been caught carrying guns into Norfolk International Airport, but none had received jail time.
The Pilot said federal prosecutors had declined to push for incarceration, ostensibly to keep pace with similar cases around the nation.
While one suspect received penalties of up to three years probation and a $4,000 fine, the Pilot said, others of the five paid fines of as little as $75.
Guns are permitted inside airports and can be transported aboard planes, as long as they are stowed in the cargo hold. But weapons must be declared to ticketing agents, transported in hardened, locked cases, unloaded and subjected to inspection by TSA personnel.
Mrs. Nance told police she usually carries her gun in her car. However, she had placed it in her purse the day before when she put the car in the shop for repairs.
As to disciplinary action, airport officials have confiscated her employee badge indefinitely, the paper said. She can't work at the airport without one, say officials.
Airport spokesman Steve Snyder said she will undergo a review by security officials and could face further personnel action.
The Post said the TSA has seized about 1,500 guns since the agency took over responsibility for airport security last year.