This is a strange gun story...

I find it more likely a wife/domestic partner was involved, considering "Authorities later allowed the 4-year-old boy and his father to continue their travel to Detroit after concluding the man didn't pose a risk, authorities said."

If you think it's odd that an angry woman would go to such lengths, most wouldn't but boy howdy, not all of them...

If I had to guess, I'd figure that there was history behind the other side of the domestic dispute, or other evidence, that helped lead the authorities to their conclusion.

What kind of pistol is that, and did they really cock it for the picture?

I'm no expert but the grip logo looks like the FN one. But I'm likely wrong. It looks like it might look pretty cool with the slide on it in that color scheme.

What kind of pistol is that, and did they really cock it for the picture?

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It looks like an IMI Jericho, and yes, they did really cock it for the picture.

*sigh*

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the TSA officials have a modicum of sense, and didn't blow the thing out of proportion (by arresting that man and putting him on a no-fly list). Imagine if that woman at the garage sale had been working airport security...

In today's world one could almost expect them to arrest the 4 year old and charge him with a felony.

OK - I couldn't resist !

Wow - a woman scorned has no limits . If the firing pin was seperated then she likely did not have expert knowledge of the field stripping process. It would be interesting to see all the parts laid out together.

Say I'm reading too far but here's what I got:

A firearm deliberately (and "artfully) hidden in a child's three stuffed animals.

The "straw man" of domestic dispute is thrown in the mix by the man.

All the components were in a child's carry on.

One of the possibly most interesting aspects - he was traveling to Detroit.

The TSA - folks who hammer down on old, old ladies AND children with mere firearms related logos, pictures or verbiage - let him continue on his way.

I get either:

A fella totally screwed by someone (domestic) with hopes of a TSA colonoscopy at best and to date, the most understanding and discrete of TSA actions.

-or-

A fella doin' a dry run on the way back to the astoundingly heavy Muslim population of the Detroit area and being "let go" to gather further background.

Really - they freak over UI fluids, nail clippers and pins and screws in Veterans bodies but this gets a pass!?!

I've been amazed at the people who have stripped naked at ticket counters and security checkpoints with no charges in the last few mo. as well, you hardly dare take a leak at the lake or side of the road anymore for fear that you will be charged with some kind of a sex crime. It surprised me that they just let them go on after finding a fully operational gun in a single bag, I doubt the man really had ill intent if he only had 2 rds in the mag. I loved how the press called the slide assembly a firing pin, I wonder if that info was passed down from the TSA?

ApacheCoTodd said:

Say I'm reading too far but here's what I got:

A firearm deliberately (and "artfully) hidden in a child's three stuffed animals.

The "straw man" of domestic dispute is thrown in the mix by the man.

All the components were in a child's carry on.

One of the possibly most interesting aspects - he was traveling to Detroit.

The TSA - folks who hammer down on old, old ladies AND children with mere firearms related logos, pictures or verbiage - let him continue on his way.

I get either:

A fella totally screwed by someone (domestic) with hopes of a TSA colonoscopy at best and to date, the most understanding and discrete of TSA actions.

-or-

A fella doin' a dry run on the way back to the astoundingly heavy Muslim population of the Detroit area and being "let go" to gather further background.

Really - they freak over UI fluids, nail clippers and pins and screws in Veterans bodies but this gets a pass!?!

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Sounds pretty accurate to me. :banghead:

If the firing pin was seperated

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That wasn't the firing pin, the not so knowledgeable reporter referred to the takedown lever as a firing pin.

The TSA - folks who hammer down on old, old ladies AND children with mere firearms related logos, pictures or verbiage - let him continue on his way.

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Or to turn it the other way, that's probably why they ultimately let him go.

Detain the guy and you get stories bitching about how the TSA detained a man and his innocent kid- cry and terrified, no doubt -as part of a domestic misunderstanding, or let the guy go realizing he was now suitably unarmed and the actual risk of him pulling something on an airplane with his child present was in fact incredibly low... And you still get these comments. Not saying some of them aren't undeserved but really, can't win for losing.

Another sensational story that we will never hear the true ending of.

I hope she's convicted too.

Balrog said:

If this guy had gotten on the plane, and other passengers realized what he had smuggled on board, he would like have been beaten to death. This posed a material risk to all on board, and I would throw the book at this guy, or at whoever was determined to have placed the gun parts in the kids toy.

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I would have to say I'm somewhat surprised at the decision myself, but again, I think the child involvement probably slanted the decision ultimately. I can also guarantee you the local PD would have been very interested in what he had to say as well. Full bag search, patdown, possibly a modified for the kid. I doubt he even made his original flight unless he had time to spare. The TSA always gets the front page, but the LEOs are always, always involved and questioning when something like this happens.

Also there's something to be said about media backlash. I'm wondering if the incessantly negative press- deserved and undeserved -affected the decision to let him fly even if the potentially safer route would have been to ground him.

/shrug.

Maybe he should have had one of those porcelain Glock 7 pistols that cost more than I make a month. They are also undetectable by airport security personnel. It was in a movie, which is the most authoritative source of gun information.

Panzercat said:

I would have to say I'm somewhat surprised at the decision myself, but again, I think the child involvement probably slanted the decision ultimately. I can also guarantee you the local PD would have been very interested in what he had to say as well. Full bag search, patdown, possibly a modified for the kid. I doubt he even made his original flight unless he had time to spare. The TSA always gets the front page, but the LEOs are always, always involved and questioning when something like this happens.

Also there's something to be said about media backlash. I'm wondering if the incessantly negative press- deserved and undeserved -affected the decision to let him fly even if the potentially safer route would have been to ground him.

/shrug.

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What - what... WHAT!

Child involvement swaying behavior?

The news is full of TSA weirdos having no problem groping, harassing, detaining or embarrassing children of any age.

So what, now folks think that the threshold of moderation is coincidentally being initially exercised in the case of a firearm deliberately (regardless of by whom) being smuggled onto an aircraft?

There's more to this than being said. PC relative to the family's standing in society, more intelligence (currently known or hoped for in the future) about the parents/father, another lame federal test gone horribly awry... All I know is we are deliberately not being told many things.

I'm here to tell ya folk - had the exact same thing happened to me or my mother - more facts than this would be plastered all over the 24 hour news cycle. Someone is being protected for some reason and I still go back to the Detroit destination as a powerful indicator when combined with the known circumstances that something is shatteringly rotten in the state of Denmark.

Maybe mom took the gun apart and put the pieces in the child's stuffed animals knowing they were going to be flying together. Sewed it back up thinking dad would be in some big trouble with a lot of explaining to do.

pkariher said:

Maybe mom took the gun apart and put the pieces in the child's stuffed animals knowing they were going to be flying together. Sewed it back up thinking dad would be in some big trouble with a lot of explaining to do.

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This +1. Don't look for a conspiracy under every story.

wagon.driver said:

This +1. Don't look for a conspiracy under every story.

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Followup; That's pretty much the gist of what we've gotten at work... Which is pretty messed up when you think that she would put her kid in that sort of hardship regardless of how much she despises the dad. Either way, the FBI is fairly interested now.

So what happens to the gun? Can I have it?

Hell hath no fury ....