A lesson in being too judgemental or How to be humbled.

[leadcounsel]

I consciously try to NOT be a judgemental person. I've had struggle and difficulty and have made my fair share of mistakes.

Recently, for instance, others posted here flaming a stewardess for carrying her gun through airport security (assuming it was accidental I would forgive her).

Here's my lesson in humility. Recently I was going through airport security with a small Maxpedition bag - it's the bag I take on woods hiking and camping trips. I thought I had checked every pocket but missed the pocket containing my .357 speedloader loaded with hollowpoints. Well, airport security didn't miss it and I was pulled out of line, questioned, subject to an incident report (ID photocopied and affixed to said report) and they confiscated my ammo. I missed my flight too. Luckily I was able to get on the next flight which was an hour later. And, they gave me the option of throwing my speedloader away or putting it in my car or mailing it to myself. Although I couldn't carry the empty speedloader on the flight :banghead: I had some time to kill so I took it back to the car.

Anyway, accidents happen and I certainly think others here should be less judgemental because they can happen to even the most careful of us. As I said, it was an honest mistake and I thoroughly believed I checked every pocket. Shooters, in particular, should be extra careful when checking through your bags, pants, whatever you may have for ammo. I know some folks here have separate designated bags for travel - that may be a good decision going forward.

 

[shockwave]

I certainly think others here should be less judgemental because they can happen to even the most careful of us

Ah, no. Ammunition should be treated with the same care you apply to your firearms. After all, without ammo, your guns are nothing but door-stops. You should always know where each and every round of ammo you have is, at all times. Forgetting where you have a speedloader is a potentially fatal mistake - if you need those cartridges in an emergency.

Treat each cartridge with the same care with which you handle your firearms.

 

[strambo]

Forgetting where you have a speedloader is a potentially fatal mistake - if you need those cartridges in an emergency.

Treat each cartridge with the same care with which you handle your firearms.

Except he made the opposite mistake, had ammo when he didn't need it/want it. Not the same as forgetting ammo when you mean to have it. Besides, it is a silly, arbitrary thing...airport security. He was prepared as he should be (had ammo for an emergency), then chose to use his bag prepped for emergencies as a travel bag where inanimate objects like ammo and a speed loader absent a gun are still verboten.

I know I can't live up to your high standard of always knowing where every round of ammo is either...

 

[rondog]

True story - back in the late 80's, I was flying from NY to OK, and using my large camera bag for a carry-on. It went through TWO x-rays and one hand inspection during the trip. When I got home, I was going through the bag and found the loaded Rohm RG-10 .22 revolver that I'd forgotten was in the bag! I still can't believe they didn't find it, and I'd probably still be in jail for it.

 

[DaleA]

It's 6:55 CDT, do YOU know where your AMMO is???!!!

For the younger crowd, there use to be public service announcements on TV (maybe radio too) in the evening listing the time and asking if you knew where your children were. It was an attempt to make parents feel guilty if they didn't know where their kids were and hopefully cut down on juvenile delinquency. The problem was, the parents that didn't pay any attention to their kids didn't pay any attention to the PSA either.

Leadcounsel, if that's the worst firearms related mistake you've made IMhO you're way ahead of most of us here, me included.

I would be interested to hear what happens to you NEXT time you fly.

 

[Vonderek]

Easy solution. Buy an extra carry-on bag. Keep the range bag at home.

 

[NukemJim]

I've had ammunition show up in the darndest places, did you know you can run .22 ammo through the washer and dryer no problems ( well the dryer was set on low )

Having extra ammo is rarely a problem the OP just happened to be extremely unlucky in that his is one of the few times ammo can get you in trouble.

Not having enough ammo on the other hand can be a problem.

Just hope the OP is not hassled when he flies in the future for a silly, harmless, mistake that was made without malice and did not endanger anyone. He has already paid enough of a penalty for what occurred.

NukemJim

 

[joeq]

Delete

 

[rmfnla]

Years ago I was flying to N. Florida with my buddy in our Cessna. We were having problems with one of the auto-pilot gyros so we decided to leave it in Ocala for service and fly back to Miami commercial.

I had one foot through the metal detector when I realized I had my NAA .22 in my pocket (the same one I always rag about misfiring; this was at an earlier date).

I took it to the ticket counter and they helped me package it for mailing to my home. I guess they were so nice because I took it to them before walking through the metal detector.

I was very grateful that I had that realization!

 

[sonier]

last year around august, I cant believe this one, i was going through denver, i had lost my wallet so i had no ID so they made me go through extra screening, i made it through the extra screening they had this machine to test chemical residues its interesting, so i got on the plane, and arrived at atlanta when i realized i accidently carried 5 .22LR rounds in my pocket through the security and extra screening.

 

[oldfool]

I respect and admire OP
thank you !

(I do have a little bit harder time respecting people who live in glass houses, but have never broken a window..... yet)

I have lost a pocket knife or two, due to highly similar circumstance (nothing real special), but made me mad at me all the same, it being nobody's fault but my own, no BS.. I used to have 'em stashed pert near everywhere in everything, had to get over it, and I did

back when CCW was a lot less common, have reached in my pocket at a shop counter for loose change, and come out with a few loose bullets mixed in with loose change.. nothing wrong with that, not hardly, no apologies required, nor offered... but it did not impress me with my own intelligence, either... just because you can is no excuse for making others needlessly uncomfortable, whether they should be needlessly uncomfortable or not,
common courtesy does not require philosophical agreement, it merely requires a little self respect

me, I can use as many reminders as I can get, and I respect any who are willing to bear the disdain of perfect people, to help me out whenever they can

thanks, leadcounsel

 

[Drail]

Airport security is an absolute abomination and an insult to everything our founding fathers fought and bled and died for. If American citzens would boycott the air travel industry we could end this stupidity.

 

[ozarkgunner]

I had to fly out of town for a business trip about 4 years ago. It was kind of spurr of the moment, the situation was not expected. I had that days notice. I had to go home and pack a bag and be to the airport in about three hours. I got home, grabed one of my luggage bags, packed it, and my wife and I were on our way to the airport.
I got there, checked in, and went to security. I was only taking one bag, and it was small enough for carry on. I got thru the metal detector just fine, but my bag didn't make it thru the Xray. It, and I got pulled off to the side, while extra security was called.

Apparently, some how, two .22lr rounds made it in the bag. At the time I only owned one .22 gun. The bag had not been used since our last move, two years prior. I can't for the life of me figure out how the rounds got into that bag. It was not one that I had ever used to carry my guns or ammo in. They were at the very bottom, under the rigid plastic liner.

I was cleared to board my flight. the two rounds were confiscated and bagged. About three weeks later I received a letter from TSA and Homeland Security, documenting the incident. They stated that the incident had been handled, documented, and felt that it was accidental, not malicious. And that no further action was needed or would be taken.

My superiors still don't know about the situation.

 

[Sgt_R]

I went to see a major political candidate give a speech during the 2008 election cycle. I made it almost all the way to the front of the line, then realized I was about to hit the security checkpoint with a 4" Benchmade auto-folder in my pocket. I had to walk back to the truck, ditch the knife, then go all the way to the back of the line since I didn't have anyone to hold my spot.

It wasn't a short line.

R

 

[mljdeckard]

Hey man, I did it too.

I spent a stretch in Benin translating for a training/humanitarian mission for some marines a year ago. When I repacked and switched to civvies for the flight home, they pulled my carry-on out of the x-ray belt and pulled out my Gerber Mk II that I have had for almost 20 years. In the bucket it goes. No second chances, no sense of humor at all. I felt stupid and I was NON happy about losing it, but at the same time, my changeover was in Paris, and I was re-checked there. If THEY had found it, the process would have been much more painful, I'm sure.

And my wife let me buy a new one.

 

[Sgt_R]

I've got a couple more...

In 2003, coming back from the sandbox, I flew from Qatar, through Germany, all the way to Baltimore with a folder in my pocket. I didn't even think about it, and thankfully, security screening was a bit lighter for returning troops back then (not happening these days, believe me).

In the late 90's, I got a ride in the back of a local PD car, into a holding cell at the county jail, and was fingerprinted before being released (loooong story... short version: someone matching my description was the subject of an ongoing investigation, I voluteered to provide prints to clear myself). Anyway, I was never charged or under arrest, and therefore was never searched... so I accidentally carried a Leatherman multitool into and back out of the county jail on my belt. Whoops.

R

 

[RoostRider]

Not long after 911 I went to Jamaica for a vacation... I brought a back pack carry on that I use all the time for whatever....

I went through the metal detectors at MSP International without hassle, but my bag was taken aside and I was shuffled off as well.... they searched my bag, and then ran some little white cloths through my bag and put them in a sniffer machine (for explosives).... then they searched my bag again... then they asked me if I had ever kept explosives in my bag.... that seemed odd to me, but I told them that I use the bag for whatever, and had, undoubtedly at least put a gun in it at some point.... they searched me and then let me board (on time)

When I got to Jamaica and into my hotel room I dumped my bag on my bed and a .223 round rolled out onto the bed... I sighed a big sigh of relief and then told some of my Jamaican buddies about it....

You have no idea how 'in demand' one round of .223 can be until you've been to a dangerous third world country where guns and ammo are not allowed.... in order to keep from getting into any trouble (and to keep my friends from any) I decided to lob it into the ocean instead of selling it to a Jamaican who wanted to build a gun for it... lol.... he wanted it to protect himself (from the police)

Two or three years later my girlfriend was robbed at gun point, in our hotel room, in Jamaica.... while I was sitting at the bar within ear shot....

 

[NOLAEMT]

last Christmas i was flying home to see the folks, and I had been shooting earlier that day. I checked and double checked my pockets, and went though security just fine. When I got to my parents house I changed to go to bed and out of my pocket fell 4 (four!) .45 acp rounds. I couldn't believe they didn't set off the metal detector.

 

[scythefwd]

Back in 05, I made it on to a plane with a knife. It was a Leatherman Wave. I forgot about it in my bag, and it showed up on the scanners. When I opened up the top pocket to my backpack, there was 2 rolls of quarters right where the leatherman was in the intermediate pocket. The checker assumed it was the quarters (and so did I) and on I went. Got to the hotel in Hawaii and unpacked. Found the leatherman in my carry on baggage..... proceeded to defecate construction materials.

 

[EddieNFL]

I do have a little bit harder time respecting people who live in glass houses, but have never broken a window..... yet

And we all live in glass houses.

A few years ago I made it through security with a folder in my carry-on. Luckily, I found it before my return trip as the inspection was much more thorough.

 

[Victor1Echo]

Lead counsel,

The highest form of human understanding is evaluation. I never judge people, I only evaluate things.

 

[killchain]

I despise the TSA's policies.

Flying home on leave, and being "randomly selected" for a near-strip search at every single airport from Kuwait to Seattle. One old lady in Salt Lake City booed them while they wanded me in ACU's with my boots off.

 

[mustang_steve]

My Range bag is ONLY my range bag. Given it's an identical bag to my work bag, however there's some modifications to it that make it obvious to me which bag is which, such as blaze orange reflective tabs and details I've added to it.

BTW laptop bags can make awesome range bags, provided you buy one that's of quality build (mine has steel hardware and quad-stitching).

 

[sonier]

Theres a few of us whove accidently carried catridges through security without getting caught, I believe its hard to find these catridges do to the round being brass and your buttons and zippers are sometimes made out of brass, these are right next to each other so this is my theory why some of us didnt get caught.

 

[leadcounsel]

I imagine many knives have been confiscated and taken home by the TSA workers. When I was returning from Iraq in trip number one we also went through Navy customs in Kuwait. I found a nice Gerber multitool on top of the amnesty box - it had been discarded by someone who had already checked his bags thru. Lost property. It was a nice find for me but angered me that Soldiers cannot be trusted with gerbers...

I also acquired a nice cold steel knife secondhand through a soldier going on leave. He forgot his large cold steel knife on his body armor and gave it to a friend, who in turn gave it to me.

I guess you win some and lose some, but I do hate being treated like an untrusted second class citizen.