“Hey, That’s My Seeing Eye Brick”

No airport chaos over the Thanksgiving weekend, but still some interesting confiscations:

Some passengers still haven’t gotten the word about what they can and can’t take on planes. Seized at airports during the Thanksgiving crush: 15,982 pocket knives, 98 boxcutters, six guns and a brick.

….Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the government has tightened restrictions on what can be taken on board a plane.

Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said many holiday travelers are inexperienced fliers and don’t realize they can’t take knives, scissors, fireworks or ammunition onto planes. If they try to, the prohibited items will be confiscated. Passengers also could be prosecuted, a decision made by law enforcement officials depending on the item and the circumstances.

….The TSA says that at the 38 busiest U.S. airports over the Thanksgiving holiday, 1,072 clubs or bats were confiscated, 3,242 banned tools and 2,384 flammable items, including a welding gun in Boise, Idaho. Another 20,581 sharp objects —- such as scissors, ice picks and meat cleavers —- also were stopped at the checkpoints. Someone tried to bring a toy cannon made of live ammunition onto a plane at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

A man tried to carry a brick onto a plane at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.

“I don’t know why he would carry a brick,” Johnson said. [North County Times]

That’s insensitive – we must celebrate our diversity. Would you ridicule a child carrying a blanket?