A man who mistakenly brought a load gun to Ronald Reagan National Airport was arrested by the TSA. At first glance you might think, “Well duh. Sounds like government is doing its job for once.”
Not so fast.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A passenger who went through an airport security checkpoint — before remembering that he had a loaded gun — is facing charges after going back to report his error, authorities said.
Gregory Scott Hinkle, 53, of Davis, West Virginia, went through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, an airport spokeswoman said.
After the traveler evidently recalled having the gun, he returned to the checkpoint and disclosed the weapon, authorities said.
The TSA contacted airport police, who charged the man with possessing or transporting a firearm into an air carrier terminal where prohibited, a misdemeanor, and released him. He is scheduled to appear April 2 in Arlington County, Virginia, General District Court.
So we have a guy who mistakenly brings a gun to the airport, makes it through the security checkpoint, realizes his mistake, tries to rectify and gets arrested. In short, don’t attempt to comply with the law after the fact. Continue on to your flight, get on board, and fly with the gun, and head on through to the baggage claim once your plane lands and not get arrested. Wouldn’t it make more sense to not come down so hard on what appears to be a decent law abiding citizen and instead spend more time focusing on how the security checkpoint failed? Just an idea.
And here is another one: How about instead of worrying if I have Head-n-Shoulders or Pantene in my small 2 oz. bottle, inside a zip lock baggie, inside another bag with my other liquids…maybe these TSOs should concentrate on…oh I don’t know…guns, knives, explosives, and so forth. I imagine under the right circumstances a shampoo bottle could explode, but all that does is make a mess inside my carry on bag.
