The handgun and ammo above were pulled out of a bag being carried onto a plane at John Wayne Airport on Thursday, one of 62 firearms (54 loaded, 25 with rounds chambered) intercepted at the nation's airports last week, according to the Transportation Security Administration. But that was not our favorite TSA find.
]
Loaded .22 Caliber Gun Found in John Wayne Airport TSA Line
No, that distinction goes to the 12 cans of bear mace discovered in carry-ons around the nation.
Who knew there was an infestation of Yogis?
“Eight were discovered at Anchorage (ANC), two at Billings (BIL) and the remainder at Oakland (OAK) and Seattle (SEA),” informs The TSA Blog. “Bear repellent is prohibited in the cabin of an aircraft. You can pack bear repellent in your checked bag if the volume is less than four ounces and if it has less than a two percent active ingredient of either CS or CN.”
Thank goodness, because you never know when you're going to have to mace a bear during the connecting flight from Denver.
As for firearms, the TSA notes:
You can travel with your firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline. You can go here for more details on how to properly travel with your firearms. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Travelers should familiarize themselves with state and local firearm laws for each point of travel prior to departure.
Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about these finds. Sure, it's great to share the things that our officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the line is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can face a penalty as high as $11,000. This is a friendly reminder to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an individual does not mean they had bad intentions; that's for the law enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these items.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.