Loaded Gun Falls Out Of Checked Bag; TSA Says, Not Our Problem

Hey, you know how you have to take your shoes off at the airport and it’s really annoying? Isn’t it more annoying that all those safeguards/hassles in place that are supposed to protect you still let a loaded gun slip come flying out of a bag? Yeah. That happened.

Okay, so it was in a checked bag, but still! A loaded gun! The L.A. Times says the gun, which fell out of a bag at LAX fully loaded, wasn’t screened by the TS because it’s not the agency’s policy to look for firearms in checked luggage, only explosives or any weapons in carry-on.

An airport ramp crew discovered the loaded .38-caliber handgun Sunday after it tumbled from an unzipped compartment in a duffel bag they were loading onto Alaska Airlines Flight 563, according to the sources. The aircraft was leaving the terminal at LAX at 8:15 a.m. Sunday, bound for Portland, Ore.

So like, yikes, right? Even if no one is shooting that thing, it could cause some major problems being all loaded and stuff on an airplane flying in the sky with lots of people on board and huge jet engines full of explosive fuel. Right? Not okay in any case.

The owner was questioned by cops and was allowed to board a later flight, while the gun was given to the LAPD. Apparently, the traveler “had not given the airline required notification that he was traveling with a gun in his checked bag on the trip.”

Loaded gun tumbles from checked bag at LAX [L.A. Times]

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