Nail Clippers No Longer Deadly Weapons

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Parents traveling with screaming children this holiday season should learn to make them hush up; your fellow passengers can once again be armed and dangerous. Beginning Dec. 22, you will be allowed to carry scissors, screw drivers, and the notorious nail clippers on commercial airlines. The thousands of dollars we have spent replacing confiscated manicure equipment is depressing.

Apparently many in the airline industry are disturbed by this logical turn of events. Our favorite quote came from Bob Hesselbein, national security committee chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association. “A Swiss army knife in the briefcase of a frequent flyer we know very well is a tool,” he said. “A ballpoint pen in the hands of a terrorist is a weapon.”

To be safe, leave your Mont Blanc at home. A testy flight attendant just might snatch it on the grounds that you were writing in an especially violent manner. Then she will regift it to her father in Toledo.

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By julie anna in News, Other on December 6, 2005 1:30 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Jason

that's great... I love the idea of flight staff regifting what they confescate.

it does make me wonder what they do with all those collected nail clippers... maybe they should sterlize them and give them back as complementary gifts for those who pass the new randomized screening tests?

i think the biggest thing the public should fear are all the pilots and flight staff who will be driven to drink due to these new security rule changes... you take away the illusion of safety, throw in a gaggle of randomly secured passengers ("we just decided to high five everyone today") and set it in the busiest flight season...

See also: Arguments against security through obscurity (It's true 'cos it's Wiki'd!)