Limit Carry-On Bags, Take Action for Security

Re “Nonmetallic Knives Defy Heightened Air Security,” Oct. 18:

A major contributing factor to why planes can be easily hijacked in this country is that too many people take on too much carry-on baggage. Most of it can’t be properly searched because there’s just too much of it. If airline passengers were required to carry on only one small bag no larger than a briefcase, all of the carry-on baggage could be thoroughly and properly searched. We wouldn’t have to worry about nonmetallic knives invisible to metal detectors.

If a person wanted to carry on more than that, he or she could pay an additional fee of, say, $50 per bag to cover the costs of having to thoroughly hand-search that extra carry-on piece. Perhaps the proceeds could be shared among the airline, the security company and a charity.

James Fuhrman

West Hollywood

*

Much as I hate to use the old argument of the gun nuts, the plastic knives do change everything. If airport security cannot keep terrorists from boarding planes armed with razor-sharp, undetectable knives, then we’d best all be armed.

I’m a big guy. I’d attack a terrorist in a heartbeat. But if they had knives, wouldn’t I be much more effective with a knife of my own? In the meantime, where are the armed air marshals?

Tom Ogren

San Luis Obispo

*

Thanks for that terrific article on the nonmetallic knives. Now that you’ve provided descriptions of the various capabilities (I hadn’t thought of piercing car doors!), told how sharp and strong they are, the manufacturers’ names and which catalogs we can order from, what’s left? Maybe next time you could just include a handy order form.

Michele Hart-Rico

Hollywood

*

Instead of having marshals on each and every airplane, why not select volunteers from the passengers? They could be muscular sorts and would be stationed in each section of the plane. To motivate volunteering, the airline could offer a discount to each such monitor. Remember the hall monitors we had in grade school?

Charles Vanderbilt

Simi Valley

*

Re “Real Danger at Airport Lies Back With the Bags,” Oct. 17:

I commend Steve Lopez’s excellent analysis of the mess of “increased” security at the airports. Our leaders want to make a gesture, increasing the sense of security. The best way to increase the sense of security is to increase the security! Empty gestures costing dollars, idling productive people in the military reserves and disrupting their lives--and accomplishing nothing--seem to nourish the terrorist concept that Americans are too docile to take effective actions for our safety.

Ken Murray

Studio City