Fashion & Style
Torontonian Tries to Board Plane at Kelowna Airport while Toting a Gun
Kelowna Airport in British Columbia has bad ass security. They know how to shake you down, and nothing gets past them. And if you don't want a hassle and a half at their security checkpoints, one thing is clear: don't try to bring a gun onto the plane - even if it's under two inches in length, has no moving parts, and is hanging from a necklace around your neck.
On Monday, Marnina Norys, a Toronto resident and PhD student studying Social Political Thought, was put through the bureaucratic and culture-of-fear rigmarole while trying to board a place in Kelowna - all because she wore a necklace with a pendant in the shape of a gun (the classic Colt45, and the actual pendant depicted in the above photo).
Hijacking a plane using a tattoo of a gun or the latest issue of Guns & Ammo magazine are just as likely scenarios.
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First she was told by an agent at security that she couldn't wear it, and that the "replica" would have to go in her carry-on bag. But a second agent who was tasked with searching her carry-on bag found the gun pendant and told her that although harmless (and against all common sense) her gun would have to go in her checked baggage.
Racing back to the check-in desk, concerned that she was going to miss her flight, Norys ended up just checking her whole carry-on bag (since her checked luggage was already long gone).
At first she was angered by the experience, and she was concerned that she'd lose the pendant, but now that a few days have passed she's able to joke about the incident. In a telephone interview this afternoon, when asked why she wears a gun pendant, she quickly responded, "I grew up watching Charlie Angels," before adding that her friend Dana, a Toronto-based jeweler made it, and that it's a really well-made piece.
So there we have it. Instead of the folks at Canadian Air Transport Security investing their resources in ensuring passenger safety, they instead end up on the phone today to issue an apology to Norys and cleaning things up after a bit of an embarrassing public relations mess.
Red-tape trumps common sense, and a choice quote from an article appearing in Kelowna's The Daily Courier back up my claim:
"How do you know it wasn't a real gun?" asked Guy, a security agent with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, who also declined to provide his last name.
"Who knows if there is a gun that small that can shoot bullets? You don't know that. They followed the rules."
This silliness serves as just one more reminder - we've lost our ability to embrace logic, and the terrorists have won.
Photo courtesy of Marnina Norys.
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And why can't any common sense be used?
so its perfectly logical to them to have variant decidings.
If there *was* a gun that small that could shoot bullets, how damaging could it be? This is ridiculousness at its most rampant.
The story would be more outrageous if these security measures were all in place and <a href="http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/";>there weren't even any terrorists to begin with</a>, wouldn't it? (Duh Duh Duhhhhhh)
"How do you know it doesn't shoot bullets, eh?"
There really ought to be a Canadian Bacon 2, there's so much new material they could play off, unfortunately.
and his work is really amazing.
These people are idiots.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-526655/Introducing-worlds-smallest-gun-fires-deadly-300mph-bullets--just-TWO-inches-long.html
Though I must say to Stro1, to equate producers of guns to producers of child porn is a bit much to say the least. Over-generalize much? I've been hunting and unfortunately had to use a gun to kill the duck. I wouldn't say that my use of a gun was anywhere near the use of child porn.
Yes, guns can be and are often mistreated but let's not be irrational.
Kinda reminds of that scene in Airplane come to think of it...
By the Back Road Scholar
The Busted Knuckle Chronicles, May 28, 2008
Layton Park
Since metal detectors, x-ray machines and security guards were put in place there has not been one incident of terrorism or high jacking originating from the Kelowna airport, as opposed to the out of control incidence that took place prior to such measures. Yet, still there is no more fearful place than the security lineup at the airport.
A 39 year old woman was recently caught trying to board an aircraft, in Kelowna, wearing a 1 ?? sterling silver pendant in the shape of an antique colt 45 on a chain around her neck. Security determined it was a risk because as a security agent named Guy stated, ?How do you know it wasn?t a real gun? Who knows if there is a gun that small that can shoot bullets? You don?t know that. They followed the rules.?
It is good to see we have security agents that are on top of things. I mean it may have looked solid but perhaps she could have bitten the end off the barrel reviling a hollow barrel. Anyhow, as Guy says, you don?t know that there could not be bullets the size of a pin.
I am no gun expert, but my guess is a bullet that small could not hold enough powder to propel the pin sized bullet fast enough to break the skin even if it was held against someone. Of course, how would security know that, their job is to know what is threatening and perhaps a secret gun that size has been developed? Of course the fact that the US military and police forces everywhere pack big heavy weapons who?s size is determined by having bullets and propellants large enough to do damage might be a clue. I hope if we ever consider giving security guns we limit them to the size of the pendent. I know I would feel safer.
A couple of months previous I boarded a plane through these same doors wearing a native fringe jacket the wife had given me for my birthday. The native fellow had made the entire jacket from a Caribou including carved bone designs on the jacket and it is more a work of art than a jacket. One of these designs was in the shape of a small arrowhead.
I dropped the jacket onto the conveyer belt that took it through the x-ray machine. The operator stopped the belt and backed it up then looked again. She talked to a guard who grabbed it and asked if it was my jacket,
?It is.? I said, ?What seems to the problem.?
?It is the arrowhead sir. It has to come off.? I laughed and said, ?You gotta be kidding?? But she was not.
?I am sorry sir but you must remove it.?
?I don?t think so. I have been through security all over North America with this jacket and I am not going to destroy a work of art for a 1 ?? arrowhead.? I then asked to speak to a supervisor.
?I am sorry but she is right, this could be considered a weapon and it must come off.?
I asked to speak with the manager and the two small security guards escorted me to an office where the manager looked at the jacket and listened to his security officers as he looked over my 6? 3? 260 lbs frame. When they finished he said, ?Look at the size of this guy. If he decided to take over the airplane, do you think he really needs that arrowhead? I think he could do more damage with his pen. Give him his jacket and let him go.?
Finally, someone besides Shakespeare that recognizes that the pen is not only mightier than the sword but also an arrowhead or in this case a pendent.
What is the real reason behind such inane behavior? Is it really to protect you? The reason is fear. The agents are not afraid you will take over the aircraft but afraid that they might somehow be held accountable for making a decision and no one wants to be held accountable, responsible or liable for their own thinking.
In my book, ?Get Out of Your Way,? I explain the reason most people do not become successful is they are held back by their own fears. The manager did not make the decision because he is the manager; he is the manager because he is not afraid to make a decision. Meanwhile the poor security guards will have to rely on their union to take care of them because they are too afraid to take care of themselves.
... we actually have to "crack down" on the very visual notion of such things! Yes, we're not just battling actual street crime and gang guns, we're now embarking on a _conceptual total war on any representation whatsoever_! Because what matters isn't actual safety, it's the suggestion thereof, right? We must be made safe from all dangerous images and metaphors, in today's uncertain world.
Wait, weren't we progressive types basically lambasting the right a few years back for exactly this kind of mentality? Could someone please explain this to David Miller?
I suggest we quash this evidence before anyone else is onto it.
Great detective work, makes me believe in the adage "so strange it must be true"!
chris @ www.gofrostfire.com
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Dear Air Canada,
I am writing with a question concerning your policies on Beta fish. I am planning to take my fish (Kingsfield) home for the holidays. He's blue, eats twice a day and does little more than float in place.
I understand from your website that there are two main policies that mitigate against Kingsfield travelling home for the yuletide season:
1 - Your policy that pets are not allowed to travel in-cabin unless they provide some form of service-assistance to the traveler.
2 - At no point will more than 4 fluid oz. be permitted beyond the initial inspection point at the airport.
With respect to the first policy, I'm confident that Kingsfield's presence in the cabin would be no more disruptive to other passengers than the average cup of coffee. It is most likely that Kingsfield will make do in a jar of some sort with holes poked in the top. Does this policy extend to fish in small jam-size jars?
On the second policy, I was also wondering if the limitation on liquids would apply to Kingsfield as well. Given that he requires more than the prohibited amount to live, do you think security would be flexible on this point? Furthermore, it is my understanding that the limitation on fluids exists for the purposes of discouraging liquid explosives. Provided further, the common knowledge that fish cannot live in explosive chemicals, do you suppose they would make an exception for Kingsfield?
Any assistance or insight into these policies would be much appreciated as we make our travel plans for the holiday season.
All the best,
- Mike P.
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Dear Mr. Paris:
Thank you for your electronic mail message of November 28, 2006, in which you inquired about transporting a Beta fish and water on board an aircraft.
As you may are aware, passengers are permitted to bring liquids, gels and aerosols through security screening at Canadian airports provided that the items are in containers with a capacity of 100 ml (or equivalent) or less; and that the containers fit comfortably in one (1) clear, closed and re-sealable plastic bag with a capacity of no more than 1 litre (or equivalent). For more information on this subject, please visit the department's website at http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/publicnotice/menu.htm.
The only exceptions to these restrictions are for baby formula, baby food, milk and juice when a small child is travelling and for liquid prescription medicines and essential non-prescription liquid medicines. Therefore, with respect to your question, more than 100 mls. of water in a fish bowl would not be permitted past the security screening checkpoint.
I regret that my response could not be more favourable. Thank you again for writing.
This small revolver is just a curiosity; the breathless "... and in the eyes of the law was as dangerous as a machine gun ..." is complete nonsense. This device would be a prohibited weapon because of barrel length alone -- not due to some super miniaturized killing power it somehow possesses simply by being tiny and exotic.
Not that I'm justifying the response from airport security, but it seems more likely that PhD student of Social Political Thought chose to wear the pendant expecting a reaction.
She had to check an extra bag and didn't miss her flight?
A few people hired to protect the public enforced a policy designed to protect the public (Read: "All metallic objects that cannot easily be examined by X-Ray or other means will be prohibited from the passenger cabin")?
And this somehow means that 'the terrorists have won'?
Come on.
This is not an example of fear-mongering.
It isn't even an example of bureaucratic bungling.
Good policy, enforced well, is all we can ask of our public servants.
And I shouldn't need to point this out, but: it *is* a good policy.
Metallic objects that cannot be easily examined are not just potentially dangerous -- they also take up too much employee time, cause line-ups, produce customer anger, generate complaints and lead to missed flights.
Most jewelry can be very easily examined.
This thing obviously took more than a few seconds to look at and to consider.
That means that it is taking too much time, and should be prohibited.
Customs has to process a thousand people an hour at lots of airports...and, speaking as a frequent flier, little delays like this are fucking terrible for everyone else.
Like I said, good policy.
Any idiot could have looked at her pendant for a few seconds and deemed it acceptable.
People are just simply trying to catch their flight without having some jackass with a political ax to grind up their ass holding up the line!
The one lacking the common sense was the idiot wearing the jewelry! Duh! It's an airport you moron! Things like bombs and guns aren't funny or cool, even if fake, on jewelry, or on a T-shirt. Keep the politics and comedy away from the airport.
I happen to be glad for the anal-retentive officers. Perhaps, they'll catch the real thing one day. They are far from perfect, but I happen to be glad they are there. I'd sure hate to see another day like 9/11. Oh how memories fade too quickly now days.
Stop your whining and show some adult responsibility for once!
Or how about you wear whatever the fuck you want to since this (and Canada, and the UK) is a free fucking country. How is a t-shirt with a cartoon robot on it threatening? You sir, are a tool. I'm pretty sure this guy just likes the transformers. You know that movie that was in almost every theatre worldwide without so much as a peep about some kind of controversy other than the fact that Michael Bay sucks ass.
Of course, given the logic these people are applying, you don't know that scientists haven't somehow shrunk the power of a STAR down into that baby. For all we know, pulling the trigger causes a BLACK HOLE to envelope us all.
And then, you know, the terrorists win!
They offered to put it in my checked luggage for 15 pounds or confiscate it. The belt buckle wasn't even worth that much, so the whole situation seemed ridiculous, just like this.
even more shocking in my opinion
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I am not a professional terrorist, but I can think of many ways to get a weapon on an airplane and none of the security rules would even slightly inconvenience me. What do you think a real terrorist could do? The security people are so amazingly stupid I wonder how they find their way to work every day.
IT IS OFFFENSIVE.
IT CARRIES CERTAIN CONNATIONS AND
SECURITY ASKING HER TO TAKE IT OFF
WAS AN ATTEMPT TO PRESERVE A CERTAIN AURA
A CERTAIN NON VIOLENT ATMOSPHERE.
I suppose if you are wearing an item that is offensive to me, I can demand that you remove it.
For example, a shirt with religious connotations. After all, it is religion that has caused the terrorist problem to start with. So if you wear anything religious, it is offensive and carries "certain connotations" and to "preserve a certain aura" and a "certain non violent atmosphere" you must remove it. I don't care if it is christian, jewish, isalmic, or whatever. All have connotations of violence. Off it comes!