So....
TSA has released a statement that they seized an "undeclared" "firearm" or "weapon"? Good for them! I feel so much safer now that TSA has, once again, saved the country from a threat. Or maybe its the first time.
Oh... Wait....
What's that you say? Demilitarized demonstration model? Not a firearm or weapon? And appropriate paperwork was provided? And the agents in question found reason to doubt the veracity of the supplied paperwork?
Hmmm...
TSA, you suck. You can't even follow your own rules, let alone read YOUR OWN paperwork and determine if its real or not. Some self-important jackhole decided "Oh, look at this! We can't let THIS on a plane! DEATH WILL ENSUE!" and THEN decided it was a Good Idea to issue a press release? Tell me, can your employees even read? What is the point of making people jump through the hoops to travel with "Firearms and Weapons" if you're just going to IGNORE the paperwork? You impose ludicrously complicated paperwork and when people go to the effort of filling it out, you IGNORE IT? What in the hell is wrong with you, TSA? If you're just going to pull whatever the hell you want off the conveyor and tell its owner "too bad, so sad, it doesn't fly" because you've got your panties in a twist about something that looks scary then you are not an agency of the government, you're an organized gang and should be prosecuted under the RICO Act.
Lets look at this again. Paperwork filled out. Item checked. Item pulled. Paperwork ignored. Press release issued. No one in the entire setup at the airport was able to look at this and say "Hmmmm... paperwork is filled out, but we don't believe them. Perhaps we might wish to verify that the paperwork is fraudulent prior to issuing a press release.".
But no. Noooooo. That would be TOO DIFFICULT, and require an IQ above room temperature. CYA? Nope. Jump to conclusions, Yes! Hell with due processes, hell with common sense, hell with picking up a phone and making a five minute call. Nope, nope and nope. STRAIGHT TO THE PRESS RELEASE!
Now for a moment of sanity - Ok, sure. It appears to be an antitank weapon. Read the paperwork and found it not believable. Fine. CALL SOMEONE and start ASKING QUESTIONS.
*return to the regularly scheduled MOCK* Don't run straight to the press release. Running straight to the press release reminds me of the Monty Python sex ed sketch, when the student suggests that the clitoris was an erogenous zone, whereupon the teacher yells "WHY LUNGE STRAIGHT FOR THE CLITORIS? How about a kiss, boy?" WHY LUNGE STRAIGHT FOR THE PRESS RELEASE? I'll tell you why. Because the waste of oxygen running the show at that airport decided the press coverage would get him promoted, and stick ATF in the eye at the same time.
The entire staff involved with the parts of this event consisting of the "Disbelieve Paperwork" and "Issue a press release" should be terminated for cause and committed to a mental institution on the grounds that they are obviously too stupid to exist without competent medical assistance. They are goose stepping, jackbooted thugs and the spawn of moronic, deviant, pig feltching, syphilitic, malodorous perverts who beat themselves over the head with frozen meat for fun.
Please, we beg of you, if you question someone's paperwork, make some phone calls. Don't go lunging straight for the press release.
Belushi TD
P.S. For those of you who are interested, here's the sketch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTMlZSKEu-Y