TSA Shares Peek At Items Seized In Airports
Guns. Knives. Boxes of bullets. Throwing stars. A garden hoe.
Travelers tried to get a lot of odd and dangerous items through TSA airport screening at LaGuardia Airport and elsewhere this year, as shown on the #ProhibitedItem hashtag and highlighted on the Transportation Security Administration Twitter account.
According to TSA Public Affairs spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, the agency labels such items "voluntarily abandoned property" and given to Pennsylvania to sell off and pocket the proceeds.
What does @TSA do with surrendered prohibited items? They are boxed and given to the state. The state sells it and keeps the profit. NY state doesn't want to deal with it, so Pennsylvania picks it up. This is a glimpse inside one of the boxes at @LGAairport #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/kilY224vzE
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
Here's a look at the kinds of items which ended up in the TSA's "VAP" rummage bin since Christmas...
A Chesapeake, VA, man was stopped at the @NorfolkAirport checkpoint by @TSA officers after they spotted this .22 caliber revolver in his carry-on bag on Friday, Dec. 22nd. He was cited on weapons charges. pic.twitter.com/v58GRKRQTQ
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 26, 2017
Naughty or nice? A Norfolk, VA, woman was stopped at @NorfolkAirport on Christmas after @TSA officers spotted her with this loaded handgun in her carry-on bag. She said she forgot she had her loaded gun with her. A lump of coal for her! pic.twitter.com/PtK5VAlaDq
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 26, 2017
.@TSA at @BWI_Airport set a record today for the most guns caught at the airport's checkpoints in a single calendar year when TSA officers caught this gun, the 25th of the year, at the airport this morning. Last year's total was 24. pic.twitter.com/58ETRdQugT
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 26, 2017
Throwing stars are martial arts weapons with blades on the edges/tips of the metal "stars." they are weapons, and as such, prohibited from being brought past a checkpoint. These four stars were stopped by @TSA officers at @BWI_Airport on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/wHfKA5SYWP
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 26, 2017
When you leave 129 bullets in your carry-on bag, like this man did when he came to a @BWI_Airport checkpoint yesterday, you slow down the @TSA checkpoint line (and you get your bullets confiscated). Don't be that guy. pic.twitter.com/yAZ4oCzQoo
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
This is a #ProhibitedItem, not allowed past a @TSA checkpoint, from a recent traveler out of @LGAairport. It's called "cats eyes" and it falls under the category of brass knuckles. pic.twitter.com/xzPrppFydS
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
The most common prohibited item brought to a @TSA
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
checkpoint? Knives, knives, knives, knives, knives, knives, knives. Did I
mention knives? These showed up at @LGAairport checkpoints during the holiday season. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/Q8V55vaqon
It might seem obvious to most people that this tactical fighting knife would not be permitted past a @TSA checkpoint. But it obviously wasn't obvious to this traveler who showed up with it in his carry-on bag at @LGAairport recently. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/kURaibQvdG
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
This is a @TSA display of prohibited items that have been brought to @LGAairport checkpoints by travelers. Which of these items do you find most unbelievable? I'm partial to the hatchet. I don't understand why someone would think that's okay through a checkpoint. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/SjlqWvVFv7
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
When a @TSA officer detects an artfully concealed item, like these knives that fold into keys, it is called "a good catch" because it is a challenging item to detect. But of course, the officers are pretty darn good at detecting this type of #ProhibitedItem. pic.twitter.com/JzG2VUYKkk
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
This knife may have a camouflage design, but the x-ray machines at @TSA checkpoints don't care that it's camo, and neither do the TSA officers. It's just another knife at a @LGAairport checkpoint that could have gone in a checked bag, but it's a #ProhibitedItem at a checkpoint. pic.twitter.com/7SZ1ZuZnZE
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
In case you were curious, even knives with pink-jeweled handles are prohibited past @TSA checkpoints. This one from a @LGAairport checkpoint during the holiday season. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/VYqngeKVk7
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
One of the common types of knives that travelers bring to @TSA checkpoints are knives on keychains like these from @LGAairport. Easy to forget you have one on your keychain. (I know because it happened to me years ago, before I worked at TSA, of course.) #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/srj7hACMed
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
Sometimes a #ProhibitedItem is categorized as such by @TSA because it could be used as a bludgeon. Baseball bats fall into that category. Please pack your bat in your checked bag because if you bring it to a checkpoint, you'll strike out. pic.twitter.com/QuTK24s9k0
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
Unsure if an item is allowed or prohibited in a carry-on bag? @TSA has a Twitter account that can assist. Tweet a photo of the item or describe the item in a tweet that you send to @AskTSA, and you'll get a response. Yes, that's the business end of a hoe. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/M2PX2ekcV2
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
It's not funny when a @TSA officer is spots a hand grenade on the x-ray monitor. That can cause a checkpoint lane to shut down to enable officials to determine whether it's a prank or a live grenade. It sure looks real on an x-ray image and will cause a delay. #ProhibitedItem pic.twitter.com/cY3uKL0Hxg
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
Here are a variety of cats eyes (they work like brass knuckles). Since there are so many, perhaps this is a litter of cats eyes. Yes? No? Either way, each one is a @TSA #ProhibitedItem. pic.twitter.com/YDpJIa5bIQ
— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) December 28, 2017
For more info on what you can and cannot bring onto a flight, check out the TSA.gov website.