Earlier this week, I took my first commercial flight EVER to watch someone married to the love of their life. I had ridden in a single engine plane to go skydiving once, but I knew this flight wouldn't be anywhere near comparable to that. I was really nervous about how my interaction with the airport TSA agents would go in the days leading up to my flight because I had to bring a few necessary medications that I was afraid they'd find reason to confiscate. I knew that my fear was completely illogical, but I couldn't shake the thought that, if they did decide to, it would be absolutely devastating for me. After multiple calls to the TSA headquarters to confer with a very patient and understanding employee, I was convinced that I had taken all of the proper steps to ensure a hassle-free flight. My liquids were bagged, my prescriptions were properly labeled and stored, and I carefully inspected and packed my luggage (twice) to ensure that nothing that could possibly make me appear sketchy made it in... so I thought.I was going through the motions at the TSA checkpoint of the airport --- sent everything I was carrying through the x-ray machine, stood inside the body scanner, got patted down and cleared, the works. While I was finishing putting on and tying my shoes, I realized that my bag wasn't anywhere to be found. I asked the TSA agents if it was still in the machine, and they said yes and it would just take a second. Well, as that second passed, I watched one agent whisper to the other and his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning! The agent told me that he needed me to step off to the side and that I needed to wait as he inspected my bag further. I didn't think anything of it until he said, "Sir, do you own a 9mm handgun?" I paused for a second and said, "I carry a 9mm concealed most places, but I definitely don't have it with me because I'm going to a less-than-gun-friendly state. I left it locked up at my apartment." A wave of fear washed over me, I was scared that maybe I put it in my bag without realizing it somehow and now I was about to go to jail!Then, the agent says to me, "Well, sir, it seems you managed to bring a handful of ammunition in this side pocket here. We're going to have to call this in, so I hope you weren't planning on boarding anytime soon." At this point, I was nervous and relieved at the same time. Relieved that I didn't bring my gun, but nervous at how serious having a few rounds with me could possibly be. As we waited for the responding police offer to arrive, the agent opened up my bag to retrieve the ammo. He initially had some trouble trying to get them out, but managed to get them out with some effort. He pulled out (4) 45 ACP rounds and said that he was mistaken about the caliber, and I was immediately upset by his words. Those rounds belonged to my father, who passed away when I was younger. Last year, I took possession of a 1911 handgun that belonged to him, and those were the rounds that were left in it before he died. I thought I had misplaced them, but it turns out that there is a little hole in the lining of my bag's side pocket that they'd slipped into.When the officer arrived, he asked who I was, where I was flying and why, etc. and explained to me the seriousness of the situation and that I could be in some legal trouble. I explained to them that it was an accident, that I had never flown before, and most importantly, that those rounds had a lot of sentimental value to me. Both he and the TSA agent were very respectful and understood that my being in possession of the ammunition wasn't purposeful or malicious in any way. The TSA agent even went so far as to say, "There's no way he could have known the ammo was in there while he was packing. I only found them because they showed up on the screen, they slipped between lining."Luckily enough, the officer told me that he was going to make a report of the incident and take a picture of me and the evidence, but wasn't going to charge me. After listening to both the agent and me, he believed that it was all a big mistake and that I didn't have some big plan to takeover the plane with 4 bullets and literally nothing else but clothes. Even though they did confiscate and destroy my dad's bullets, I consider myself very lucky and I'm happy with the way it turned out.In the end, I managed to escape a misdemeanor arrest/charge because of a few mitigating factors and fair judgement. I'm definitely going to buy a new bag should I ever need to take a flight in the future, but I walked away with a newfound respect for the TSA and the officers patrolling major transport hubs. It may sound stupid, but I'm glad that they are good enough at their job that they can catch a few small bullets while rushing to scan dozens of items at once and serving thousands of people every day. I consider myself a good person and a law abiding citizen, but some other person might try to sneak through a small .380 hoping they won't notice, and that could result in a tragedy. I'm sure I'm going to be on some list somewhere for years to come because I had a hole in my bag, but I'm happy knowing that the people guarding our airways are competent, respectable people despite popular opinion. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2t7CPrL
No comments:
Post a Comment