Tagged because I might be flying later this year. Typically I avoid air travel but Mrs.Vert tells me she ain't drivin' this time.
Allow honest citizens to carry everywhere???Have you truly gone mad? Everyone knows that....Can't see much that can be done to eliminate crazy people from doing crazy things! If they make the baggage area a GF zone, next guy will shoot people at the shuttle bus stop or in the bus. If you make these a GF zone, they will shoot at the entrance to the parking lot! The only logical way to avoid multiple deaths is to allow the honest citizens to carry everywhere which may have some effect in taking out the perp quicker. Doubt this will happen as common sense isn't common.
No problems checking in at Bush intl. I spent about 2 hours at a gun range this morning, I'm sure to have a lot of GSR on me. Body scanners probably don't look for that and I didn't get pulled aside for any extra checks. Had 100 pieces of spent brass in my bag as well. No problems.
I've been pulled aside before in Florida (probably 5 years ago) for a random scan. It wasn't a "sniffing" machine, rather it was a chemical test. They took a swab from your hands checking for explosive residue. I can't remember the exact process, they either first sprayed a compound on the skin then wiped with a cloth checking for color change, or if they used a pretreated wipe. Either way, I passed.In the mid 2000's, I was doing security for a military installation that used similar equipment. Unless the technology has radically changed, the scanners are essentially an x-ray machine. Different kind of wave, and it doesn't penetrate skin, but it's "looking" and not "sniffing". The "sniffing" machines we had required a patch of cloth to be rubbed on whatever you wanted "sniffed" and then the patch was put in a machine which analyzed it for explosive compounds. I am aware that "sniffing" machines that do not require a patch exist, but don't know anything about them.
EOD's vehicle always came up hot. Go figure.
I was in Canada a few years back and they had 'Puffer' machines. You step in, they shoot several puffs of air and then it is supposed to analyze the air for trace. TSA was going to implement them, large scale, but the program - like so many others - went bust. Not sure if that's what you were talking about.In the mid 2000's, I was doing security for a military installation that used similar equipment. Unless the technology has radically changed, the scanners are essentially an x-ray machine. Different kind of wave, and it doesn't penetrate skin, but it's "looking" and not "sniffing". The "sniffing" machines we had required a patch of cloth to be rubbed on whatever you wanted "sniffed" and then the patch was put in a machine which analyzed it for explosive compounds. I am aware that "sniffing" machines that do not require a patch exist, but don't know anything about them.
EOD's vehicle always came up hot. Go figure.
I would guess 5 people out of a million are prone to do BONEHEADED things.