IMAGE SOURCE: (themellowjihadi)
BYLINE: Anthony Martinez
A Florida teen wound up missing her flight because her purse had the hollow imprint of a gun on the side. Here’s Channel 4 Jax News with the details.
“‘With a flair for Western fashion, Vanessa Gibbs carries this clutch purse nearly everyday.’
GIBBS: ‘It’s my style. It’s camouflaged. It has an old Western gun on it.’
‘But her preference for the pistol’s style didn’t set well with TSA at the Norfolk airport. Headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip, she says an agent flagged her purse as a security risk.
‘Vanessa and her mom say it’s hard to believe anyone could mistake this design for a real gun. It’s just a few inches in size. It’s hollow. And she’s taken it on planes before.”
Not taking any chances with TSA firearm policy risk, the security mishap made the 17-year-old miss her flight. But according to the Examiner, the TSA had no other way to look at it. The purse that is.
“As it turns out, the TSA has the law on its side in this case. A rule passed by the agency in 2002 strictly prohibits passengers from bringing “realistic replicas of firearms” on board an aircraft.”
This is yet another headline-making story for the TSA, but CNN reports that taking chances isn’t one of TSA’s trademarks.
"Security checkpoints may be impacted or closed because replica weapons like toy guns, novelty grenades, fake bombs and other items appear similar to the real thing when viewed through an X-ray machine," TSA spokesman Greg Soule said. "Checkpoint closures cause significant delays, which can be avoided if passengers don't bring these items to the airport."
The TSA says it’s investigating whether or not the girl’s gun purse has cleared other security c
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