TSA mostly avoids headlines in 2013 until an agent confiscates a toy gun from a sock monkey
The TSA avoided the major headlines which was a common problem for the agency over the last several years. One agent came forward to reveal fake searches and incompetence, but hardly felt a backlash from the public which was the case a year earlier.
No, the TSA lost its first agent in the line of duty and only made headlines in the final month over confiscating a toy gun which accompanied a sock monkey.
Only two weeks ago a Washington woman explained to local news stations how a TSA agent flagged her carry-on bag that contained “Rooster Monkburn,” a sock monkey modeled off John Wayne’s character in the film True Grit.
The agent took issue with Monkburn’s 2-inch toy pistol, saying “this is a gun” with the owner saying that it was just a toy. “If I held it up to your neck, you wouldn’t know if it was real or not,” the agent said.
The TSA issued a statement Monday saying that under “longstanding aircraft security policy, and out of an abundance of caution, realistic replicas of firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags.”
This includes two-inch plastic guns being toted by a sock monkey.
Hope you feel safe.
[…] Despite a good year for the when it comes to controversy (or the lack there of) a TSA confiscated a toy gun from a Washington woman. […]