Government

Live Explosives, Chainsaw, and a Chastity Belt: TSA Reveals Some of the Items It’s Confiscated This Year

TSA Year to Date Blog Post Details Number of Firearms and Other Interesting Items Found at Security Checkpoints

Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) workers screen passengers at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport earlier this year. (Photo: AP//Charles Dharapak)

To date, 375,432,402 passengers have traveled through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. Of those shuffling through security, TSA has collected a number of nefarious items on the bodies of passengers or in their checked baggage and has been detailing them in its blog.

Here are some stats for some of the contraband caught by TSA since January:

  • Firearms: Of the 821 firearms found by TSA this year, 691 were loaded and 210 were locked and loaded. The most popular location for gun confiscation of the 160 airports where they were identified this year is Atlanta, with 56 found thus far.
TSA Year to Date Blog Post Details Number of Firearms and Other Interesting Items Found at Security Checkpoints

Guns found by TSA. (Photo: Transportation Security Administration blog)

  • Most popular gun: The .380 has been found 197 times.
  • Most unusual concealment effort: A passenger from Portland tried to hide a pistol in a potted plant. Another passenger disassembled a gun and its ammo and tried to get it past TSA in three stuffed animals.
TSA Year to Date Blog Post Details Number of Firearms and Other Interesting Items Found at Security Checkpoints

TSA found gun parts "artfully concealed" inside three-stuffed animals when they were passed through the X-ray machine. (Photo: AP/Transportation Security Administration)

  • Live explosives: 40mm high explosive grenade; electrical tape-wrapped bottled with flash power inside and three M-80 fireworks; viable cannonball. TSA also reports finding a slew of “interesting inert items.”
  • Other strange items: bear mace, walker with mounted knife, chainsaw, grenade launcher and a chastity belt (to be clear, TSA notes the chastity belt was just detected, not confiscated, as they are not banned).

Check out TSA’s full “year-to-date” review blog post for more details on these finds and other updates on its programs here. Each week, TSA posts a “week in review” update on its blog where it details things like firearms found, strange locations where other items were found and other miscellaneous object worth noting.

(H/T: Gizmodo)

Comments (38)

  • Fisher1949
    Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:21am

    The gun in the doll is an old story and was planted on the traveler by an angry ex-wife. There were no chages against the father since he didn’t know it was there.

    Report Post »  
  • Fisher1949
    Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:20am

    This press release is nothing more than PR drivel to distract attention away from TSA’s profiling scandal in Boston, the third one in two years.

    Taxpayers should not be paying a TSA employee to deliberately lie to the public and news organization in an effort to make a corrupt and scandalized agency appear reputable.

    There are several TSA screeners charged with a crime or misconduct each month, far more than any other Federal agency. Two more TSA workers, Richard C. Cook II and Timothy G. Gregory, were arrested this week for smuggling drugs through security in Atlanta airport. This brings the total number of charged with smuggling contraband through security to twelve in twenty months.

    In the past two months 35 TSA workers fired or arrested and 66 more disciplined for misconduct. Two others were arrested in July for theft from passengers and assault with a handgun. A known pedophile, Thomas Harkins, was exposed in May but remains employed as a TSA Supervisor in Philadelphia.

    There were a total of 97 TSA workers arrested in the last 20 months including 12 arrested for child sex crimes, over 26 for theft, 12 for smuggling contraband through security and one for murder.

    TSA needs to be dismantled and replaced by an agency that understands airport security and the law. Pistole needs to be indicted for criminal malfeasance for allowing TSA ineptitude to jeopardize airline safety.

    Report Post »  
  • pennsy.357
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:52pm

    If only people would educate themselves, it‘s completely legal to take a firearm with you when you fly granted you follow TSA regulations you wouldn’t need to hide it in a stuff animal. Good grief!

    Report Post »  
  • ainthurtinnobody
    Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:14am

    I wonder what class of weapon a chastity belt is? I believe it’s more of a defensive weapon than a weapon of agreesion. I guess it’s just who wears it. Sort of in the eye of the beholder if you get it.

    Report Post »  
    • Living In NYC
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:06am

      It is consider a useful item by Janet and her thug Chief of Staff Suzanne Hayes to “maintain order” in the latest Clubhouse in Washington..the TSA Offices!

      Sounds like “interesting belts” and other ‘toys” are being used by the executive team at the TSA…why pay for them when you can steal them from taxpayers! Our Federal Government in Action!

      Report Post » Living In NYC  
  • woodyb
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:45pm

    They didn’t say whether the chastity belt was in the luggage or on the person!!!!!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • Swen Swenson
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:36pm

    Of course they couldn’t confiscate the chastity belt. It wouldn’t do much good if whoever was wearing it also had the key! :D

    Report Post »  
  • ENIGMA28724
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:54pm

    How many of the firearms were sent through and found to make the TSA look like they are doing their job and how many actually made it through security without being found? Since the latter were not used to hijack an airliner I guess they don’t matter.

    Report Post »  
    • SgtB
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:42pm

      I’m willing to guess quite a few. I don’t know anyone that would risk a $700+ FN five-seven pistol going through the TSA. That’s just dumb.

      Report Post » SgtB  
  • Jim
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:36pm

    I don’t know why anyone would try to sneak a gun in carry on luggage, unless they are going to use it on the plane. I put mine in a locked box in the checked baggage and told the airline it was in there, they said ok and told TSA. The TSA checked the bag, no questions asked, no problem. Follow the rules, you don’t go to jail and you keep your firearm.

    Report Post » Jim  
  • Nahum
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:31pm

    Just out of curiosity what are “live” explosives? Are there dead explosives?

    Report Post »  
  • Owt_Raged
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 6:00pm

    I wonder how many of these are just training tests to see if the agents actually find them? I used to work at a large retailer that had a huge loss prevention problem. The company hired an outside contractor who would send different people in all the time trying to steal stuff, just to see if the employees would catch them.

    Report Post » Owt_Raged  
  • Insolent
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 5:27pm

    Love that 5.7.

    Report Post » Insolent  
  • zjak
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 5:16pm

    Any private firm can do the same thing, or possibly even better. So what is the TSA trying to get at? Afraid that Romney is going to privatize them?!!

    Report Post »  
    • bpodlesnik
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 9:14am

      If they went private who would pay them? Where would their source of income come from?

      Report Post » bpodlesnik  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:20pm

      The airport……

      Report Post » eagle2715  
  • applehill
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 5:07pm

    I believe this to be more TSA propaganda than I’d believe anything else… See, you do need us. Look at all this stuff we kept from going on the plane.

    Report Post » applehill  
    • Displacedsoutherner
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 9:35am

      Don‘t forget the leather pocketbook with a gun design in metal studs that it took TSA so long to figure out it wasn’t a real gun the woman missed her plane.

      Or the teenage girl with a gun shaped charm maybe 1.5 inches long on her bracelet, who knows how much trouble that could have caused on the plane.

      I feel much safer just knowing TSA is protecting me from fashion faux pas. Now they could just weed out the 300 lb folks in gym shorts and tank tops, I’d say give them a raise.

      Report Post »  
  • banneryetwaves
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:55pm

    TSA revelas?

    Report Post »  
  • RockyBoy_Cree
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:43pm

    Money could be saved by getting a chastity belt for Sandra Fluke.

    Report Post »  
  • Eric_The_Red_State
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:35pm

    What Neanderthal tries to get a gun on a plane?
    Are these people that stupid?
    What would make this story more interesting is the REASONS GIVEN to try and smuggle a gun onto a plane.
    I can‘t imagine what goes through people’s minds.

    Report Post » Eric_The_Red_State  
  • justangry
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:24pm

    Of course, how many TSA agents have been arrested, items stolen from passengers or complaints filed about stupid gropings and a lack of common sense? Then you have to wonder if they’d lie about the stuff they found to justify their existence… Nah, the govt doesn’t lie, ask the DOJ. The TSA’s very existence is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!

    Report Post » justangry  
  • Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:23pm

    I’m going to throw the BS Flag on this one. 40MM Grenade. Uh huh. Yeah.

    Report Post » Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve  
    • justangry
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:55pm

      You know the government never lies…

      Report Post » justangry  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on August 15, 2012 at 5:00pm

      uh..yea.. that is less than a quarter of an inch.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:21pm

      It was taken off a service member…remember seeing it in an article a few months back… Accidental, was in the bottom of a bag…

      Said service member got in a **** load of trouble back on base though as that stuff is suppose to be turned back in if not used…

      Report Post » eagle2715  
  • Landon410
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:14pm

    i’ll take that 5.7 pistol pictured!

    Report Post »  
  • Lothmar
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:06pm

    Yeah see, look how good of a job we’re doing keeping you safe… Better not privatize. ~rolls eyes~

    Report Post »  
  • Too_Far_Gone
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 3:59pm

    What no rubber chickens ?!

    Report Post » Too_Far_Gone  
  • KickinBack
    Posted on August 15, 2012 at 3:58pm

    Good thing the chastity belt was returned. MaryBethElisabeth would’ve thrown one major hissy over it.

    Report Post » KickinBack  

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