Woman held after gun goes off in airport bag

[Airwolf]

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_769894.html



Woman held after gun goes off in airport bag

A 50-year-old woman is in FBI custody after a gun inside a bag accidentally went off at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

An American Airlines employee was shot in the foot when the gun went off at a ramp area, an airport spokeswoman said.

The worker was treated but later discharged from hospital.

The Transportation Security Administration is reviewing the incident, which appears to break federal law, Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melen said.

Guns are allowed in checked luggage, but the weapons must be unloaded and the passenger must be authorised to carry a weapon. It is illegal for passengers to carry any weapon on board.

The bag with the gun had been properly screened for explosives, Melen said.

The FBI took the 50-year-old woman into custody at Kansas City International Airport in connection with the incident. The woman, who was flying from Key West to Kansas City is due to appear in court on Monday.

"We don't believe there was any malicious intent involved, or links to terrorism," said FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza.

 

[HABU]

The bag with the gun had been properly screened for explosives, Melen said.

Obviously, not well enough.

Note to self: When taking gun into airport in a bag, be sure to have it in a holster and don't fiddle with the trigger.

 

[El Tejon]

THR Chorus, ready? ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED!

Never "treat". Not "sometimes". Not "I know it's unloaded." They are always loaded. Always.

The Four Rules could have saved the day here. Too bad they are not better understood and followed.

 

[Standing Wolf]

"We don't believe there was any malicious intent involved, or links to terrorism," said FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza.

Sounds like aggravated stupidity to me.

 

[gudel]

gun in the bag and it went off?
what is the make/model of that gun? (and don't buy that gun either)

 

[Navy joe]

Gudel, it didn't just go off. That's newspeak for "some dumb*ss left their brain at home and figured out a way to pull the trigger when they shouldn't have. In other words, we don't have the whole story, someone handled the gun.

 

[Selfdfenz]

Something about this story is setting of my BS alarm.

I have watched the baggage handlers at DWF load out planes (AA included) countless times. I come and go from there all the time.
Gentle is not a word I would use to describe the way they load luggage at times.

If a particular brand of FA I'm thinking of was placed loaded in luggage and something stiff enough, also in the bag, shifted into the triggerguard I could see the weapon firing if it were dropped just right or thrown.

Also if the baggage handler was fishing around in the bag with his or her hand looking for things (connect the dots) they may have caused the gun to fire "accidently" as they were preparing to discover it (connect the dots again).

There should be a hole in the bag and one heck of a lot of charred clothes if every one on the ramp was a stand up fellow.

S-

 

[Jeff OTMG]

"Guns are allowed in checked luggage, but the weapons must be unloaded and the passenger must be authorised to carry a weapon."

Authorized to carry????? Really? I guess for a writer who can't spell this comes as no surprise.

 

[Greg L]

If it "went off" on the ramp that means that someone out there was grubbing around inside her bag. As was mentioned there better be a lot of other things with a hole in them or the handler better have a real good explanation as to how the pistol that was in her bag managed to shoot him in the foot without hitting anything else.

She was dumb for leaving it loaded and not declaring it, but it sounds like DFW has other issues that they need to deal with.

Greg

 

[geegee]

Something's not right here. I've taken a lot of flights after declaring a firearm for inspection.

First question: 1. Is it loaded? The answer (of course) needs to be "No", at which point you're given a day-glow orange tag which you have to sign, verifying that "This is an unloaded firearm", or words to that effect.

2. You have to have your ammunition inside a separate locked case. Most ticket counter folks know enough to ask that, and in fact insist on it (as they should, by law).

A few years ago, I actually had a loaded magazine in the case of my pistol, when the girl at the ticket counter pointed that out to me. Without batting an eye, she picked up my handgun, gave it an authoritative once over, then started ejecting rounds from the mag into her hand, without even looking. She then said "I'm sure you don't mind making a small contribution to the Airport Security "Ammunition Fund"." "Uh, no...of course not, I said." Hey, when you're caught, you're caught!

No way this pistol went through a routine inspection, or someone is in a lot of trouble. geegee

 

[rick458]

that ought to get a little better bag treatment on the flight line if nothing else

 

[Navy joe]

Jeff, the authorized vs. authorised thing is no big deal, it's seen in several similar words, usually referred to as the "British" spelling. I sometimes use lots of different brit variants for some reason, maybe because the rural area I grew up in is so bassackwards that things haven't changed much since they went back to their island. I do try to avoid the hillbilly speak and ebonics variants that are also prevalent in the area.

 

[geegee]

maybe because the rural area I grew up in is so bassackwards

Actually old boy, I believe the correct British term is arse -backwards! geegee