Hi everybody.....
About 6 to 8 months after 9/11 my son, girlfriend, and I flew from Albuquerque, through Houston, Grand Cayman, to Little Cayman.
When we arrived and unpacked, my son discovered he still had 60 rounds of 22LR ammo in his carry on backpack (he has used this bag on a hunting trip). This ammunition was in one of those many little zippered pockets located on the outside of his bag near the bottom. I suspect that this ammo appeared to the screener as a wad of loose lead... just a guess.
Let's just get this out of the way now: Yes..... I had asked him to carefully check his bags for anything that would cause us problems passing through security. No, ..... I didn't check up on my 18yo son. Yes.... I should have.
I hope that everyone flying these days knows that security will NEVER stop a determined person from doing bad things. Security services are just to make uninformed people feel that they're safe.
Personally, I'd feel more safe about flying if everyone on the airplane were armed to the teeth. Think about it, Would you try to take over an aircraft if every granny was packin'?!!! (By the way, Myth Busters has already shown that a bullet hole through the side of a aircraft will NOT cause explosive decompression.)
Can't you just the hear the Flight Attendant adding this to her/his speel: "Ok, everyone, make sure your handgun has one in the camber and on safe. Shoot anyone that jumps up and trys to take over this aircraft. Thank you and enjoy your flight."
Safe travels and happy landings!