TSA Hand Scan

[Baron2PG]

So I'm flying home from PHX yesterday and the TSA guy pulls me aside and swipes my hands with small piece of "fabric" for what I assume is a 'bomb sniffer' test. Fortunately I pass and move on without any further cavity searches.

It got me thinking; I am an a fairly avid pistol and rifle shooter and reload my own ammunition. What if I had just been to the range or reloaded a couple hundred rounds that day?

 

[John Baker]

You would have been "temporarily inconvenienced."

John

 

[airguy]

Happened to me about 2 years ago - I am an avid shooter and reloader, and I had been doing a bunch of reloading one evening, then went inside and packed my bags for a business trip WITHOUT washing my hands first. They ran the "swab" test on my laptop bag and every numbnut with a badge was there within 30 seconds. It took me an hour and a half to get it all straight, missed the flight, missed the meeting, got the message. Wash your hands well before touching travel items.

And yeah, that's part of the reason I'm building an RV-9A now. Screw 'em.

 

[steingar]

I wish I was a huge bruiser sort of guy, so when the TSA clown tries to fondle my manhood I could knock the sucker into the next county. When they try and arrest me I would defend myself saying that "when I stranger lays hands on my without my permission I consider it assault."

Pity, I'm just a little pip-squeak, and have to bend over and take it like a man.

 

[wsuffa]

For future reference, some of the soaps used in airport restrooms will set off the machine (glycerine base), as will many hand lotions.

 

[ScottM]

For future reference, some of the soaps used in airport restrooms will set off the machine (glycerine base), as will many hand lotions.

That is interesting.

I know my scuba gear always tests positive. One of the inspectors, this was before they did the search in secret, saw my back plate. Since he was a diver he wanted to talk about how it worked and we got chatting. He tested my gear and it of course showed positive for explosives, my SOs did not. He looked at me, smiled and then said "I guess we know who pees in their wetsuit". Seems that urine and its residue also can give false positives. And yes I pee in my wetsuit. There are two types of divers, those that pee in their wetsuits and those that lie about it.

 

[Telemakhos]

I wish I was a huge bruiser sort of guy, so when the TSA clown tries to fondle my manhood I could knock the sucker into the next county. When they try and arrest me I would defend myself saying that "when I stranger lays hands on my without my permission I consider it assault."

Pity, I'm just a little pip-squeak, and have to bend over and take it like a man.

I'm a fairly large-sized guy, and I would never consider knocking one of those morons out. They are dimwit rent-a-cops, but a federally-empowered version. They wouldn't "try to arrest [you]," they would emphatically arrest you and then you would have the pleasure of being in jail for a while, which would allow you time to compose your "he grabbed my junk" defense.

 

[Gary]

So I'm flying home from PHX yesterday and the TSA guy pulls me aside and swipes my hands with small piece of "fabric" for what I assume is a 'bomb sniffer' test. Fortunately I pass and move on without any further cavity searches.

It got me thinking; I am an a fairly avid pistol and rifle shooter and reload my own ammunition. What if I had just been to the range or reloaded a couple hundred rounds that day?

You would have been "temporarily inconvenienced."

John

What John said.

The screening is pretty sensitive. We had done some explosives removal and disposal a few days earlier. The work boots triggered the alarm which resulted in a more thourough screening. Even after 3 days, the residual on my work cloths came up positive.

Gary

 

[Keith Lane]

I'm a fairly large-sized guy, and I would never consider knocking one of those morons out. They are dimwit rent-a-cops, but a federally-empowered version. They wouldn't "try to arrest [you]," they would emphatically arrest you and then you would have the pleasure of being in jail for a while, which would allow you time to compose your "he grabbed my junk" defense.

As comedian Ron White says...
"I don't know how many guys it would take to whip my ass. But I know how many they were going to use".

 

[airguy]

As comedian Ron White says...
"I don't know how many guys it would take to whip my ass. But I know how many they were going to use".

And that's a handy piece of information to have! B)

 

[Ghery]

The only time anything of mine tested positive was in Elliat, Israel for a flight returning to Tel Aviv last year. An inconvenience for certain, but we made the flight. Bunches of secondary screening in a back room while my wife waited outside not knowing if we'd make our flight. The best I can figure is that there must have been stuff in the soil in Petra that contaminated my camera bag. All that gear got shipped back in a couple of boxes (well bubble wrapped) as checked bags rather than as a carry on.

 

[Baron2PG]

Good feedback. I have used my laptop travel case in the past to transport firearms to/from places in my car. I guess that is probably a big no no as they could easily leave residue let alone an errant round rolling around in the bottom of the bag.