TheUglyGuy
83738
813
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How fucking stupid do you have to be to "inadvertently" pack a gun in your carry-on? We don't need an age test for politicians, We need a basic IQ test. I'm afraid one of these people is going to die some time because they are too damn dumb to keep breathing.
cattywumpus
Sure, they let a gun through without questions. But they dump out my entire bag to inspect my Magic cards.
ctotheg2
“Just paid ＄20,000 dollars or was it Hong Kong Pesos, I don’t know what these guys use probably rocks haha, anyway I’ll be out in a jiffy don’t you worry none.”
Tisimish
Wild how I get a pat-down every time I go through TSA because I wear a chest binder, but there is tale after tale out there of people getting guns through on the regular without even trying.
theduckening
Pro tip for Americans. 2nd Amendment isn't protected outside of the US. If you plan on going outside of your country. Leave your gun home.
TheobromineAddict
"Inadvertently" packing a firearm in your vacation luggage does not demonstrate firearms safety conciousness.
DesdemonaMoor
Jesus. Had my carry on searched because I forgot I packed some jams/jellies and had to throw them away, yet this asswipe manages to get a gun through TSA.
JonesColorDog
I have to take my shoes and my belt off and take my laptop out of its case and have it all scanned and sometimes pop and have to have my bag opened and explain to security what a shampoo bottle is all while praying my flight is still boarding when I finally get to the gate... He discovers a REVOLVER in his carryon MID-flight??
EverNotRelevant
We already had literacy tests at the polls. It didn't turn out great.
flacoloco
gonna find out that the 2A is not a global thing
Dracology
Well you know at least to his credit he alerted customs rather than try and get away with it. Also no shock the TSA missed it, joke of a security force.
HenryLongfellowIII
He *says* he alerted customs. There were reports it was discovered, and officials are saying nothing. You put your stuff through an X-ray when you arrive.
Drakhma
he basically just gave china a good "usa is full of morons" headline.
splincoln
Washingtonian here. Longview is a suburb of Vancouver. It is smack-dab in the middle of strip-mall-church/prosperity-gospel territory. It's a proud-boy spawning-ground and contributes the lion's share of the right-wing half of the running street battles in Portland (look up Patriot Prayer some time on an empty stomach) and this tool-bag is a cheerleader for them. I hope the Chinese authorities hold on to him for a nice long time.
Snushine
You have apparently never been to Longview, WA. Look up it's reputation and all this makes sense.
TheUglyGuy
True. I live just South of Portland, so know it pretty well. And know the PDX TSA too, so that makes sense as well.
LifeIsDukka101
On my last scan through (Australian) airport security carry on check in, they confiscated my corkscrew wine bottle opener! I stupidly forgot to put it in check 9n luggage. But them missing a gun? WTF!!??
incendiumsatus
Please don't have any belief that Australian air security is at all effective.
ZantetsukenX
Haha, I had a corkscrew wine bottle opener + knife that made it all the way to Costa Rica and back without me realizing it was in my bag until I went to fly down to Florida two months later and they caught it.
geekstudios
I had a multitool that I cut the tip of the knife off, ground off the edge, and rounded it to look like a butter knife. It couldn’t cut anything. They confiscated it. I was like “it’s not a knife.” They said, “but could it be mistaken for a knife?” I wanted to say, “only if you’re an idiot.”
SirButcher
The last time I flew, they found (and confiscated) my toothpaste after testing if it was a bomb. I only found my boat knife which I had forgotten in my bag after I arrived home...
Kalmbach
If you don't know where your gun is at all times...you shouldn't be allowed to have a gun. And if you think you need to bring a gun to Hong Kong, maybe you should just stay home.
Hawkgirl203
Airport security in the US didn’t notice his gun? That really inspires confidence. But hey, they got that oversized bottle of mouthwash, who knows what that liquid really was.
Hashbrown123
Republican politician going to south Asia, huh? Wonder why.
SirButcher
With a lot of cash. I couldn't even imagine it.
PeeterGrant
This is something a rapper that needs attention does, not a state senator. What a shithead. If only it was a big bag of cocaine instead. They love that shit in Hong Kong.
msui34
Weird little pockets in suitcases can be a thing. I found my glasses like a year later after smartly stuffing them in a pocket I forgot about and never use otherwise.
TheUglyGuy
If you don't know exactly where your gun is at all times you shouldn't own one.
msui34
I notice you used the singular.
TheUglyGuy
OK. If you don't know exactly where any and all of your weapons of any type are at all times you are not competent to own, and certainly not carry any weapons of any description.
spaceseed83
He actually did the thing! When you absolutely don't have a gun but your anxiety says "but wait, what if you have a gun by accident", but he actually did! I can *almost* see how that happened. If I take my daily use backpack when I travel it has a couple small pocket knives that live in it. My uncle's bag has a full size utility knife in his that he has to remember to remove. They just kind of live in their own pockets. Out of side out of mind. If that gun just lives in that bag *I guess*.
spaceseed83
I will say I'm surprised he actually handled the situation properly upon landing tho. It actually seems pretty un-GOP of him to go to the proper authorities and be completely upfront about it and take the punishment he was given. Tho to be honest I've never traveled internationally, so I don't know how customs works. Would it have been possible for him to just leave the airport with it and mail it home or smthn?
AllGloryToTheDarkLord
Bruh.... I was flying from thailand to usa and caught a gun charge. I had a little lipstick taser in my checked baggage. Tasers are legal in Thailand, China, and the USA, but not hongkong, I didnt even have access to my bag, i checked it in thailand, expecting to get it back in the US, but they pulled me out of line in hongkong and charged me with possession of a firearm. For a lipstick taser, that they had in their possession the whole time.
darthstormer
How the everloving fuck do you "accidentally" pack a gun in your carryon and why the fuck are we subjected to the anal probulator 9000x if security can't even spot said gun?
Fedotia
The anal probulator 9000x is for people with Spanish last names or wearing exotic headpieces, not protestant grey-haired white guys.
Noahbalboa82
Well you don't expect people to safely and responsible store their firearms in an approved gun safe, do ya?
Imalwaysready
Well he didn't have the gun hidden up his ass, silly. They would have found it there.
ILoveSpicyPeople
Of course he’s from Longview
willzohhlord
"How fucking stupid do you have to be?" The answer is: A person has to be Republican stupid.
Newfehotep
Given he's a Republican in WA he probably truly believes that Portland is some lawless hellscape you need to wear body armor to drive through. He just forgot he stashed an extra piece in his carry on for the "airport run" in case he was taken hostage by ANTIFA or trans activists.
goodtimehadbyall
Longview, WA is a great place. If you are white and like meth.
Newfehotep
And are the type to pack revolvers in your gym bag and carry on luggage
ZaphodBbx
Can we at least get a good caning out of this?
Wolfshead009
Isn't that Singapore? Or is my memory failing me?
mastertmo
The fact that he found it and alerted security tells me it was an honest mistake. Possibly it was in a jacket pocket and he just shoved the jacket in in a hurry? Dunno, just speculating. As a non-gun owner, not something I can imagine doing myself.
Cornchipp10
Yes- if l had a pet rattlesnake, I'd prolly forget to replace the lid to its enclosure a couple times a month...
BigDSwingin
It's a big mistake though especially on an international flight. Honestly should have not told Asian customs and just dumped it after the airport and get the hell out of that country. No way am I risking going to a Chinese prison.
Fedotia
It's a revolver, you are supposed to know where it is and it's too heavy to not notice it in a pocket. That mouthbreather simply forgot about his 24/7 backpack pewpew.
mastertmo
There's a difference between an 'excuse' and an 'explanation'.
An excuse is why something isn't your fault.
An explanation is how something happened.
An explanation may or may not also provide an excuse.
I was attempting to come up with a plausible explanation for how it happened. I was not attempting to excuse it.
There are possible excuses for it, if you want to get creative. I didn't. The possible explanation I came up with is still his fault. Personal pet peeve that people mistake the two.
JohnThatcher
As a gun owner, there is no excuse. They are dangerous weapons designed to kill with minimal effort. Even low power rounds like the .22 is lethal. They are not toys or show pieces and should be treated accordingly. His one redeaming grace here is that he owned up to the mistake immediately. Also, the US's TSA is a joke and a half.
mastertmo
Sorry, not trying to excuse it, merely explain. He definitely deserves the fine and ridicule.
TheobromineAddict
If you were a responsible gun owner, you would know that "inadvertently" and "gun" don't belong in the same sentence.
TheUglyGuy
This. I carried for about 10 years when I worked in a sketchy part of town. Never forgot where it was.
OCanadian
I'm concerned how a gun packed in a carry on made it through security...?
BillyM00n
Is the person who did it white, rich, and politically influential? I think we might have answered your question...
StellarJay77
TSA is ALL just security theater.
ChernoGamma
Last time I went through security, I was on my way back home and had wheelchair service. As we approached the TSA checkpoint I suddenly realized I had a knife in my pocket that was supposed to have been in checked luggage; I asked the Skycap what I should do and she said "This happens all the time, let's just see what they do." And that's how I got on a Delta flight with an actual weapon.
Strategicgnomer
Because TSA isn't about making things safer, it's anti terrorism theater. Just there to make people think it can't happen again and give an excuse to harass brown people and create lists of people not allowed to travel. It's, quite frankly, bullshit. Oh, and they make a bunch of money off people paying to get through faster. I guess it's maybe just about the money...
khora
The no fly list is a convenient way for would be terrorists to check if someone is on to them.
Imalwaysready
Then I'm about to make your night... https://www.newsweek.com/tsa-fails-half-time-706568
hangar
I once took an 11 inch serrated bread knife in my carryon on a transatlantic flight (2005 during the height of the paranoia). Discovered it when I got to the hotel. I had been moving the month before and forgot I left it in the bag.
Quebeker
But don’t you dare bring a water bottle
littlecoatfatguy
Happens with disturbing frequency
jakedafish
And yet I’m still back scattered and hate raped every time I fly.
littlecoatfatguy
Nobody’s ever made a good joke about rape, and you didn’t break the trend
jakedafish
Gate raped, meaning pulled out of line and groped by TSA. Not meant as a joke.
littlecoatfatguy
“Roughed up at the gate” or “got that TSA shakedown” would get your point across admirably.
ZaphodBbx
"set at 20,000 of a currency that Smith could not confirm..." -- He was, however, heard asking: 'What's that in *real* money?'
Edgarflaps
How in the fuck did airport security miss this.
Aspernari
It was a day that ended in Y. They don't do well on those.
anarchoFeline
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater
amglasgow
He's probably in the quick lane that gives a much more cursory search considering he's a state senator.
sydneygirl
we accidentally had a giant pair of scissors in my daughters backpack (she was given homework over the holidays). Scissors missed at LAX, discovered in a different country at airport check in.
Wolfshead009
I got a knife through. It was only a small penknife (2 inch blade), but I had forgotten it and it went through the X-Ray machine.
CheezitsLight
It's theatre.
sparklepantsthedestroyer
TSA misses most everything during training scenarios, which is acceptable because it's fulfulling its core mission. It wasn't designed to make flying safer, it's designed to 1) be something politicians can point at as proof they're "tough on terror", and 2) be another avenue to get public funding into private pockets. To quote (I think) Bruce Schneier: "We can't keep weapons out of prisons; how do you propose we keep them off of airplanes?"
SavageDrums
Too busy up to their elbows in a brown person...
Bladedrummer
Totally useless theater.
Imalwaysready
TSA is not the cutting edge security force you may think it is... https://www.newsweek.com/tsa-fails-half-time-706568
mrthewhitee
In a test years ago tsa missed 98% of threats.
TheJuiceLoosener
Didn't someone build a functioning bomb, then dismantle it, wrap each component in the flag of an Arabic country, pack them all in the same carry-on, and walk it through no problem? MFW security theater is 0% security and 100% theater.
hiddenminotaur
They are too busy confiscating water bottles to worry about actual weapons.
rbudrick
Security theater. You dont pay people shit and expect them to gaf.
pianostacatto
That's the funny part. He'd likely have gotten away with it continually if he hadn't accidentally been reminded of it mid-flight. But then... he turned himself in? That's the only puzzling part to me. Either he's too honest for his own good, or he maybe tried to make it seem it was planted on him somehow.
TheN8
Nah, the security at the other end would've caught it. Owning up BEFORE they found a gun in the bag of a westerner was about the only smart thing he managed that day.
urxgf666
Yet they find my soda I accidently packed every time
crediblezephyre
Seriously. Did they make him take off his shoes? Was his laptop out of his bag?? DID HE HAVE TOO MUCH SHAMPOO? At this point, any of this could have happened and we're all at risk
thedrunkenmaster
They are mostly searching for deodorants and such items...
newsguycraigevans
You mean the security theater that is there to make people feel like there is actually security in place? Gee. I don't know.
geekstudios
They’re too busy harassing professional videographers.
HardDoseOfReality
Its pretty simple actually. He works for the government. He is given extra special privileges and the tsa probably never checked him because of this to begin with. Secondly security in this country is mostly about feeling safe. Not necessarily being safe...
Taalii
Because they fail something like 99% of tests and have never ever prevented anything. If someone has a weapon? Oh look a crowd of people in the tsa line who cannot move. They are security theater not security. Making you feel protected with ‘it is inconvenient but at least it is security’ nonsense.
evilspock
It's mostly theater. When they do testing, firearms are *frequently* missed.
duchessofawesome
During a TSA check, my husband and I got pulled for an extra check. The TSA person was only interested in swabbing our DSLR camera and asking “Has your camera been out of your possession recently?” And “Where have you been using this?” We were with him for about 15 minutes before someone came along and asked what was going on. The guard said we were carrying “questionable items”. The other told us to gather our things and leave.
Beelsebooob
He’s a senator, he’ll have been pre-screened and okayed to go in the back entrance.
astromoondoggie
“DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?!?
gardengnomeii
They miss almost all actual weapons in carryon luggage. They only find things you show them.
Shpielers
I've accidently gotten through with pocket knives on several occasions without them being noticed. But one time they took my sister's nail trimmers. ...prioriries?
SometimesIFeelLikeAGenius
Shortly after 9/11 I accidentally brought a knife on the plane. They found the metal money clip that my grandfather gave me, but not the knife.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I've flown lots of times with a knife in my purse that I forgot to take out.
dbox
Same
Tassyr
He's white and a politician, you REALLY expect them to subject him to the same rules as the rest of us peasants?
shitheadtookmyname
The airport in question is in China
WiiShaker
This one.
LTareyouserious
TSA doesn't check private jets
IrateWolfe
I used to carry a folding knive on my keychain, got ao used to carrying it that I forgot it was there, and I once went through airport security, put my keys- knife still attached- through the scanner... and they gave it back to me and let me board the plane with a 2-inch blade in my pocket, but confiscated my shaving cream.
astrangehop
Your shaving cream could have velociraptor embryos in it.
IrateWolfe
Always a concern
astrangehop
exbenedict
Fun fact…the last five years of TSA Audits have shown that they only catch about 20% of the smuggled artifacts that are the control testing samples, so they easily could have missed this. It’s quite staggering how inept airport security truly is.
IUsedToHaveUsernameOnce
Okay I'll go for a low hanging fruit. With how US government operates I'm surprised you guys are a superpower and the only explanation I have is exploitation and modern slave labour. I genuinely don't understand what you guys pay taxes for, well... Other than the military industrial complex
bot1010011010
mostly, yea
allenvasher3000
He might have flone on a private plane.
insomniack
Spellcheck sponsored by TSA security checks. 😂
Noahbalboa82
Flone
Angelfish8
Phloan
TheN8
Phlowen
IxnayOnTheOttenRay
Security experts describe TSA as "security theater"
cbminecrafter
Not just experts... the TSA themselves do. TSA manuals literally describe the checkpoints using the term security theater.
notinitforthepoints
Proof?
smegginhell
.
IxnayOnTheOttenRay
https://reason.com/2022/01/07/airport-security-measures-are-popular-but-pointless/
notinitforthepoints
What is reason.com?
SithElephant
To be fair, they're concentrating really hard on their production of Hamlet.
moxythree
I don’t get this.
JustinWasHere
But I like it.
SithElephant
Security theater
moxythree
ruckertopia
Pretty normal for TSA. You didn't think those security checks were there for actual security, did you?
upsidedownyhead
Alright Tyler Durdon
YesmynameisGreg
My 5 missing pocket knives say they are good at spotting things sometimes.
PotatoPirateTheThird
I think i remember reading the FBI ran tests on them to see how effective they were at catching hidden guns and it was less than 20%
xcrit
I went to an 90's party and they gave out slap bracelets that I put on the handle of my backpack. TSA flipped out.
Iamnotawildturkey
Hey, I had to pour out my water bottle at the god damn gate and they let a gun through?! (Seriously sleep deprived moment on my part) lol wow, I’m so glad we all spent so much time taking our shoes off.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
I love that in Canada, you only have to take your shoes off if you're flying to the US. Flying to other countries? Hell no keep them shoes on.
StellarJay77
It's all just security theater. The amount of things they miss is staggering. If anyone actually had malicious intentions there would be very little of any substance to stop them.
shitheadtookmyname
There's no TSA in Hong Kong
hetnkik999
He didn't fly out of Hong Kong.
AreYouABadPerson
There's TSA in Portland.
neochild
It's like someone didn't read the article
PotatoPirateTheThird
AbeFromanSausageKingOfChicago
In the words of the great George Carlin, airline security is there for one reason: to make white people feel safe.
HardDoseOfReality
Can be said about almost any security in the US I think. Very few security measures provide safety beyond the unmotivated criminal unwilling to find any other way into something.
allenvasher3000
Idk I have lost a couple of knives over the years
HandoB4Javert
~ Gordon Ramsey
cantevenbewhenicantevenpee
Bro stop leaving them in people. Mommy and daddy not around to clean up after you anymore
PineappleLoopsBroether
One time I had 4 pint flasks of alcohol in my carryon, and they took my good one, but also left the other 3 and gave me a look like “mmmmmhm…”
LeviFunk
One time I forgot I had my pocket knife on me. I just put it in the dish with my keys and wallet. Figured if they see it they will take it, or if I tell them they will take it. It went through and I put it back in my pocket for the flight.
CaptnVatka
I lost my grandpa's pocket knife given to my dad from him and my dad gave it to me. This was shortly after those rules were implemented and I wasn't a frequent flyer. When I asked if I could get it back I was met with a shrug. I'm still pissed about that.
allenvasher3000
They told me I could go back & buy an envelope & mail it back to my self, & go to the back of the line, but we were running late, or so we thought it turned out our flight was delayed. It was only a & $30 knife. The other time it was in my GF's carry on & she was so frazzled, (it was 4am) she just freaked & said they could take it. She didn't realize that the didn't make this 1 anymore, it was 1 of my favorites.