Gun discharges at TSA checkpoint in Atlanta airport

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k-frame

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Will be interesting to see how this turns out. I'm betting the owner loses the weapon but the officer who fired the round only gets a reprimand, if that. I hope I'm wrong.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/passengers-gun-goes-off-1258011.html

A passenger’s gun went off Sunday morning in the security line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, police say.

TSA officers found a loaded .22-caliber Magnum revolver in Richard Popkin’s carry-on bag during an X-ray scan, police said.

And while an Atlanta police officer responding to the scene tried to clear the five “snake” shot bullets – small game pellet ammunition – in the handgun, a shot went off, according to an Atlanta Police incident report obtained from Hartsfield officials.

No one was injured, but according to the responding officer’s account from the incident report, “I was grazed by a pellet fragment on the left side of my face. However, there were no visible injuries.”
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Sounds like the officer violated at least one of the four rules (keep finger off trigger) and may have been aiming the gun towards his face when it fired. Unless it was a pellet fragment ricocheting from impacting something else. The story says the weapon discharged while in the secuirty line but I can't imagine trying to unload a weapon in that area.
 
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You're probably right, owner will get in loads of trouble and agent will get off scott free, probably with an award for 'getting hit by grazing fire' or some crap :)

Sucks that the owner too probably just forgot they had it with them, it's happened to me plenty of times luckily not going into an airport!
 
The firearm owner will be in serious trouble.

The officer will get in some trouble. How much we'll never know.

How do you forget you have a gun in your carry-on? You use the same bag for everything, including range trips.
 
hso said:
How do you forget you have a gun in your carry-on? You use the same bag for everything, including range trips.
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Thats why I try and clear out any bag completely before packing. That way I know for sure I won't have any stowaways that I shouldn't.
 
I heard it on the news recently that the TSA claims that around five firearms are found in carry ons (either everyday or week, I forget). So it isn't all that uncommon.

I think the guy should be "lightly" held accountable if he did in fact do it by accident and the guy doesn't seem to be a threat. If he recently got back from Yemen and has some crazy ideas floating around in his head, well, treat that differently. That the cop shot himself should not play into it whatsoever. The cop obviously wasn't familiar with the weapon and should have left it be or supervised the owner unloading it. It obviously didn't go off on its own, not until the cop touched it.

The cop should be reprimanded I think. He put others in danger when he fondled a loaded weapon he wasn't familiar with. But the guy shouldn't be held accountable for the AD, just the cop, and it should be done in the light to prevent this from occuring again.

As often as this happens, perhaps a pre-screening area would be nice for folks that *think* they may have something. A quick screen where you can turn back around and hand it off or whatever before going through the security. Then if you go through security with it, it should be your tail. But I suppose this would cost more and be more of a hassle...

I guess you should just expect stuff like this from time to time and live with it. Ruining either of their lives isn't worth it, better off using it as a learning experience to try and prevent it from happening again.
 
Ok, now it gets odder. CNN reports:

The gun's owner was telling Phillips how to clear the loaded .22 magnum revolver when it was accidentally discharged, Phillips reported. "The weapon was pointed down towards the screening table."
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How does a revolver "accidently" discharge?

ETA: And yes Waterman, especially in this case. Apparently the guy shifted the gun to his carry-on to save a weight charge fee with hs checked bag. Doh!
 
Do I have to think of EVERYTHING? Snakes on a Plane, people? It's more than just fiction in his mind. And he's ready! LOL
 
Not so odd, many/most single actions require you to half-cock the hammer to turn the cylinder. The cop obviously let the hammer slip.
 
I will never again use my "do all" bag for range trips. I had to spend an interesting couple of hours in Newark recently explaining why I had a few stray .357 rounds in an inside zippered pocket. In fairness, TSA and the Airport Police were courteous, friendly and professional (yes, I said Newark NEW JERSEY).
 
Not so odd, many/most single actions require you to half-cock the hammer to turn the cylinder. The cop obviously let the hammer slip
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Just as a scientific wild guess, I'm thinking the revolver was some flavor of NAA mini. Five rounds snakeshot, requires hammer at 1/2 cock to load & unload, no trigger guard.
 
The firearm owner will be in serious trouble.

The officer will get in some trouble. How much we'll never know.

How do you forget you have a gun in your carry-on? You use the same bag for everything, including range trips.
Click to expand...




How do people leave their kids on the top of their cars and then drive off? lol




It happens.


.
 
Just as a scientific wild guess, I'm thinking the revolver was some flavor of NAA mini. Five rounds snakeshot, requires hammer at 1/2 cock to load & unload, no trigger guard.
Click to expand...

Good point - and probably a weapon with which most LEO aren't familiar.
NAA_22+magnum_MINI_REVOLVER.jpg
 
But the internet tells me that any time a cop shoots himself, it is that fault of that dangerous aweful stinky Glo.... oh, wait.

My opinion, the appropriate action for this (for the traveler anyway) is a slap on the wrist the first time with the understanding that it will not happen again. And I can hardly believe that the procedure for this situation for TSA is to clear the gun right there in the security line. They are amazingly lucky it was snake shot and not something solid.

This is why I don't use range bags for luggage.
 
Depending on the gun, this might not be a case of finger on the trigger. A lot of older .22 single actions could fire just by the hammer slipping even if the trigger wasn't depressed. I have an old FIE E15 .22 revolver that will fire (not every time, but often enough to be careful) if you just pull the hammer back almost to the half-cock and then release it.

In that case that answer literally is to keep the safety engaged on the gun, as the safety on that gun operates only as a hammer block (ie, you can cock and even drop the hammer with the safety engaged, bu the hammer stops short of hitting the firing pin when it hits the safety).

All this is just speculation until we really find out what the model of the gun was though (which we'll likely never know).
 
the cop is a moron regardless and next april 15th when the IRS ask me why i didnt pay ill say: "i forgot".............fubar.......no guiltless idiots here
 
Yep, this was in our local news just this morning: 76-year-old with gun strapped to ankle at airport says he forgot it was there
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That would be a great holster ad! "So comfortable I forgot it was there until the TSA reminded me"
 
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