At Airports, No Farewell to Arms

WASHINGTON -- A woman trying to catch a US Airways flight in Philadelphia didn’t realize her husband’s loaded handgun was tucked in her carry-on bag, along with an extra ammunition clip.

At Los Angeles International Airport, an elderly man bound for Switzerland was caught with an 18-inch sword hidden in a wooden cane. He said that, when he purchased the cane, no one told him he was getting a rapier as well.

Though the memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is still fresh, tens of thousands of passengers keep showing up at U.S. airports with a bewildering array of guns, knives, box cutters and other potentially lethal weapons, risking arrest and federal prosecution.

In the last seven months, more than 3 million items have been seized at airports and 720 people have been arrested for weapon violations -- an average of four a day.

The parade of armaments, mostly knives and cutting tools, has become a distraction for the new federal security screeners assigned to catch terrorists, officials say. The sheer volume also has renewed worries that weapons are still getting through without being detected.

The numbers also indicate that the biggest obstacle to transforming airports into weapon-free zones may be Americans’ personal habits.

“A great deal of work needs to be done with the public to tell people, ‘Don’t carry these things,’ ” said Billie Vincent, a former security director for the Federal Aviation Administration. However, federal officials say the Transportation Security Administration -- the new agency charged with airport security -- doesn’t have money for an advertising campaign.

With more than 800 guns and nearly 80,000 knives confiscated, Vincent worries about the ones that aren’t spotted. “If there are high numbers of these [weapons] being carried and detected, there is potentially a frightening number on the airplanes,” he said.

Even box cutters such as those infamously used by the hijackers last year keep turning up: More than 31,000 of them were confiscated between mid-February and the end of September. As for firearms, an average of four a day are seized at airports around the country, according to TSA statistics.

The numbers also point to LAX as something of a hub for weapons. Of 429 airports nationwide, it accounted for 8% of all items seized. That includes 11% of the box cutters, but only 3% of the guns. Officials said the explanation may lie in the fact that Los Angeles handles more originating passengers than any airport in the country.

“It used to be the biggest problem we had with guns being picked up in screening was in Texas,” Vincent said. “It was little old ladies who carried a gun in their purse for protection.”

Once caught, travelers who break the rules offer a range of excuses. Many say they simply forgot that they had a corkscrew or a pocketknife in their backpacks. Some don’t view what they’re carrying as a potential hazard -- even if it’s a large knife or other potentially lethal item -- because they have no intention of using it as a weapon on an aircraft, security sources said.

Others beg ignorance of the restrictions, saying they were unaware that certain items -- penknives, for example -- are classified as weapons. And a few apparently believe they can somehow escape detection.

“It’s a real educational challenge,” said David Stone, the federal security director at LAX. “People bring a big knife through screening and say, ‘I thought you would understand. I’m not a terrorist, I want to bring this knife to Kansas.’ ”

Stone keeps a collection of the most interesting objects on a shelf in his office in the airport’s old control tower. Among the items seized at LAX is a gray mobile phone that isn’t a phone at all: It’s a stun gun.

X-ray machines have exposed artful attempts at disguise. In Tampa, Fla., what seemed to the naked eye to be a computer floppy disk turned out to be a high-tech version of the Swiss army knife. On one corner, there was a magnifying glass. On the next, a compass. Finally, on a third corner, a 2-inch knife.

At Boston’s Logan International Airport, where the two flights that were flown into the World Trade Center originated, a fancy pen set off a metal detector one day this year. Puzzled, the security screener opened the pen, and found that it wrote well. But then the screener gave a little tug, and out slid a well-concealed, razor-sharp blade.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘What were these people thinking?’ ” TSA spokesman Robert Johnson said.

None of the incidents involved terrorists, only passengers with questionable judgment. “We need some common sense here,” Johnson added. “Don’t bring your guns to the airport. Leave your knives at home. Box cutters are not a good idea.”

The vast majority of people who are caught attempting to board with prohibited articles suffer no greater inconvenience than the loss of the item.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said intent is a key question when authorities are considering whether to file charges. “If someone has a knife in their purse and they didn’t realize it, they may be detained and questioned, but they aren’t going to be prosecuted,” Bosley said.

Passengers who wish to avoid being hauled off in handcuffs for an FBI interview can ask their airline about questionable items, or check the TSA list on its Web site: https://www.tsa.gov/trav_ consumers/aircraft_prohibit. shtm. The lengthy list includes firearms, knives, clubs, incendiary devices and weapon replicas.

Arrest can expose an unwitting passenger to damaging publicity, legal fees and a court sentence.

Nancy Keller, the woman caught with her husband’s gun at the Philadelphia airport, was lucky. U.S. Atty. Patrick Meehan dropped charges of knowingly carrying a concealed weapon through airport security. Keller said she was unaware the gun was in her carry-on bag.

Amir Farhang Motamedi, the 71-year-old man arrested Oct. 2 at LAX with a sword in his cane, is still trying to get his case resolved. His lawyer said Motamedi, a legal immigrant from Iran, has no criminal history and feels “horrible” about the incident.

Federal prosecutors around the country are trying to walk a fine line between prosecuting blatant violations and showing forbearance in cases involving innocent mistakes or an oversight.

David Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Chicago, said he is unaware of any guidance from Washington concerning the issue, but that federal prosecutors are operating with “heightened awareness” when it comes to security.

“We continue to treat any case,” he said, “that poses a danger, or a potential danger, aboard an aircraft very seriously.”

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Los Angeles Haul More than 230,000 items were confiscated from passengers at Los Angeles International Airport between Feb. 17 and Sept. 30. Among them:

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*--* Knives 40,381 Other cutting instruments 105,258 Box cutters 3,579 Other weapons (not cutting)* 900 Club, bat, bludgeon 150 Firearms 24 * Includes fireworks, tear gas, pepper spray, etc

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*--* Source: Transportation Security Administration - Reported by JENNIFER OLDHAM

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