TSA claims 130 banned items prevented in the last year!

[nawainwright]

TSA is claiming that their scanners and procedures have prevented 130 banned items from getting on planes in the last year alone. Which, on its face, doesn't even sound impressive! If you delve into the numbers it seems even LESS impressive.

How many people fly per day in the US? my google-fu indicates that, conservatively, 1.5 million people per day fly in the US. Multiply that by 365 days per year and you get 547.5 million passengers per year in the US. Out of 547.5 million people, they found 130 banned items. That's 1 item per 2.4 million people. Which, expressed in a percentage, is a number that barely exists.

They listed a handful of items that were clearly problem items to have, but as my wife said when she sent me the article, "130 dangerous items ....out of how many travelers, and how many were actually meant to be dangerous, or were they accidental? (forgot I had a gun in my purse)"

I knew there was a reason I loved her

TSA: New Scanners Kept Many Illegal or Dangerous Items Off Planes This Year - FoxNews.com

 

[redneckmedic]

Well my wife was one of those people who had a banned item removed from her. Red handed they caught her trying to sneak in breast milk to feed our baby. Of course it was only dangerous as she wouldn't drink it to prove what it was..... Shameless!!!

 

[IndySSD]

Hell, I've probably had more than 130 items confiscated over the last year by TSA that qualify as "banned items".

I've had at least 3 tubes of toothpaste taken, 2 cans of aerosol deodorant, 3 bottles of hair gel, two bottles of shampoo, two bottles of shower gel, one bottle of Listerine, three sets of toenail clippers, one knock off swiss army knife with 2 blades that I forgot was in my carry on wedged under the stabilizing cardboard on the bottom..... GOOD THING THE XRAY MACHINE CAUGHT MY 1" DOUBLE ASSASIN NINJA BLADE!!

Yeah, so whatever, 130 items confiscated means there are probably about 10 people who forgot to buy travel sized bath stuff last year... GOOD CATCH TSA!

 

[pudly]

Gee, they accomplished all that without any crotch-grabbing?

 

[Expat]

That doesn't sound like very many... 130? Not when you include rednecks breast milk, my aftershave, pre-shave and other people as dumb as me that only flies once every 5 years.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

How many of those 130 items were shampoo bottles .5 ounces over the limit.

Sounds like damage control by Janet Incompetano trying to justify a department that was never needed to begin with.

 

[dom1104]

One of them was my Leatherman Surge.

Had to mail it back to myself it was in my laptop bag /blush.

 

[indytechnerd]

I wanna see the list. How many of those 130 were TRULY dangerous to the flight. If you took the list up to 100 random people and asked them to highlight what they thought was dangerous, what would be on those 100 lists?

I forget my toenail clippers in my bag and the stoner behind me thinking he can sneak his one-hitter to FL for spring break does not equal 2 items that present a danger to the plane.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

They still have a better record than the Federal Air Marshals.

My first, and probably last Purple Post.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

They still have a better record than the Federal Air Marshals.

My first, and probably last Purple Post.

Hey, they've killed one mentally ill man and one mentally ill woman in 10 years. The were both on the ground though.

 

[Ash]

I wanna see the list. How many of those 130 were TRULY dangerous to the flight. If you took the list up to 100 random people and asked them to highlight what they thought was dangerous, what would be on those 100 lists?

I forget my toenail clippers in my bag and the stoner behind me thinking he can sneak his one-hitter to FL for spring break does not equal 2 items that present a danger to the plane.

Exactly. So the Feds make up a list of dangerous items, then post the number that they discovered. Why don't we just let them write their own paychecks while we are at it. Oh wait..

I'm actually a little disappointed in the small number. Surely they could have added a few more zeros and nobody would be the wiser.

 

[Expat]

If you haven't seen this one yet, you have to read it. TSA is going to let a certain group women to pat themselves down. Am I incorrect in having the impression that most suicide bombers have been women and children of that particular group... yeah, this should work out well for us.

Napolitano considering allowing Muslim women to pat themselves down at Airports! | Greeley Gazette

 

[rambone]

Yeah the TSA confiscates baby food, shampoo, and all sorts of ridiculous items. La dee dah. I think we should be armed on planes.

 

[nawainwright]

If you haven't seen this one yet, you have to read it. TSA is going to let a certain group women to pat themselves down. Am I incorrect in having the impression that most suicide bombers have been women and children of that particular group... yeah, this should work out well for us.

Napolitano considering allowing Muslim women to pat themselves down at Airports! | Greeley Gazette

The TSA has already discounted that possibility here in the last few days.

 

[nawainwright]

I'm sure they classify all the "dangerous" items and not the mundane ones. Nevertheless, I think I could have survived the handful of knives that people forgot they were carrying, the few people who have left ammunition in a carry on bag or a gun in a purse. I even think the dude who had a needle full of heroine in his undies could have been one I cared less about.

 

[bigcraig]

I would like to see the list of the 130 items.

 

[public servant]

That doesn't sound like very many... 130? Not when you include rednecks breast milk, my aftershave, pre-shave and other people as dumb as me that only flies once every 5 years.

Yeah. I'd be really impressed if it were 130 sticks of dynamite. But breast milk and aftershave...not so much.

 

[TRWXXA]

I would like to see the list of the 130 items.

They will be significant items. Remember the woman arrested at IND a few months ago? She had a gun in her purse that she "forgot" was in there. Imagine all the hunting knives, straight razors, machetes, and blowtorches that people "forgot" were in their luggage.

Given the hundreds of millions of US air travellers in a year, and given that 50% of them have to statistically be below average intelligence, I surprised that the TSA only found 130 such items.

It makes me wonder just how many thousands of these things the TSA's shampoo-snatchers FAILED to find in that year.

 

[littletommy]

Unless they took actual explosive devices away from someone who they then charged with threatening a flight, and got it to stick in a court of law, I really don't give a **** what these ass holes say they have done. 130 items? Wow, you guys are really doing your job and earning our tax dollars! And I'm sure nobody in the .gov would even think about padding the numbers, no matter how miniscule they may be, to try to justify their existence.

Seriously? 130 items out of how many millions of passengers? And they say this as if they are proud of what they have done? These people are far worse than I thought. The TSA should be shut down TODAY, NOW!

 

[infidel]

I wonder what the total cost of TSA security is for one year. Then divide that by 130, and I wonder what the cost per item would be? Maybe it would be better I didn't find out and get sick...