The Transportation Security Administration gets a bad rap because of the extra time they cost people while they are trying to rush to flights with what often feels like unnecessary searches. Judging by pictures posted by the government agency's new Instagram account delaying travelers by an extra five minutes is perfectly reasonable, according to Fox News.
The new Instagram account, @TSAblogteam, started posting pictures on June 27 and they already have a slew of strange items that have no business being on a plane. From a camouflage knife that is shaped like a gun to a classic Derringer pistol the TSA seem to be finding all sorts of prohibited items. In Albany, N.Y., agents confiscated a grenade, albeit a defused one.
Almost coinciding with the agency's foray into social media is a report that people are brining weapons to the airport far more often than they used to. The Associated Press reports that in the first six months of 2013 TSA screeners found almost 900 guns either on passengers or in their bags, 30 percent more than were found last year.
In the entirety of 2012 the TSA found 1,549 firearms at checkpoints, a number that represented a 17 percent rise from the year before. TSA spokesman David Castelveter told the Associated Press that the agency didn't keep track of how many guns were discovered prior to 2011 but that they have noticed that the number seems to be growing each year.
Often the only excuse that people have when they end up being caught with a weapon is that they "forgot," Castelveter told the Associated Press.
"We don't analyze the behavioral traits of people who carry weapons," Castelveter said. "We're looking for terrorists. But sometimes you have to scratch your head and say, 'Why?'"
Jimmy Taylor, a sociology professor at Ohio University-Zanesville, told the Associated Press that even though some gun owners are so used to carrying their weapon that they might forget he tends not to believe that excuse.
"My wife and I check on things like eye drops and Chapstick to see if we're allowed to take them on a plane, so it's a little difficult to imagine that you aren't checking the policies about your loaded firearm before you get to the airport."
Unless you want to earn your fifteen minutes of fame popping up on the TSA's Instagram it is recommended that you leave your firearms at home when travelling.
