Racial Profiling Poll

[slamdunkpro]

There is a bigger problem; the TSA has the wrong mission.

Israeli security has been cited in this thread as being the best. The fundamental difference is that the Israelis screen for terrorists and the TSA screens for potential weapons.

The other larger issue with airline security is that it is a single line defense (I include gate searches in there as well). Once you get past the defense line with a weapon, the passengers of the plane are helpless because they obeyed the law and are disarmed

At this time only a small fraction of airline pilots are armed and the FAA is doing everything it can to make this process as difficult as possible.

Why is it that there were no airline hijackings in the US until after 1966? Because before then guns were allowed in the cabin as carry-on. Local cops, sportsmen and others all flew with guns. There were no “tragic accidents”, shootouts or all the other crap the press keeps harping “might happen”.

Given the choice between a flight where anyone can carry on the plane and the current “security” system – I’d opt for the armed flight every time.

[ACPlayer]

An interesting point.

I flew out of Amsterdam for Newark a few years ago. On that flight at the airport, every passenger was questioned for a couple of minutes by security personnel. I was asked what I do for a living, where I was coming from, where I lived, asked to show a business card. Just a couple of minutes. My documents were examined (I was coming from South Africa via Amsterdam) and I was asked what I was doing in South Africa.

All passengers were being screened. I assume that if there were some red flags raised then more questioning would follow. All passengers were so questioned. It was done in the gate area. The questioners appeared to be college educated (not min wage types), intelligent and thorough.

There were however quite a few of these guys. Also I think this was only being done on flights to the US (not sure). This was in 1999.

Very expensive solution in the US given the number of airports and flights everyday.