Security Tsa News Today

With the -- with that passenger. why that passenger would leave and where theyve gone, thats going to become a central area of focus as they try to get the airport put back together so that it can function. >> let me ask you, john, has there been a worry that there would be lapses in security at airports like atlanta hartsfield, especially when we are in the midst of this pandemic, weve heard of obviously mandates going through when it comes to vaccines, folks not wanting to necessarily get vacc...

Were learning from authorities there as this thing develops in the search for the person who discharged the firearm? >> they are poring over the security video. they are -- as jim said earlier, they will be talking to the tsos and one point to make is they will absolutely be able to figure out what this passenger is, because they would have had to scan their ticket and show their i.d. to get to the point where their bag was being searched. one thing to clarify, yasmin. the tsa does have a vaccin...

Gun, none of that is under the purview of the tsa? >> that is correct. its dependent on the laws of the given state. georgia has a open and a concealed carry law. so in that case, if the person is legal to carry a gun and has a license to carry that gun, they can be told to take it away. in a state like new york, that person would be arrested because that is not legal. im just getting a text from a tsa official who tells me that 80% of the guns that they find at checkpoints are loaded. >> wow. w...

Seriously, as it should be. for someone to bring a firearm to the airport, unfortunately, it does happen. but for the actions of reaching for that gun, particularly in resulting with a discharge, and then disappearing, that elevates it to a new level, and this is going to take some time to sort through. it does indicate that tsa had located the gun. they knew that it was there and were in the process of confiscating it, so the tsa portion of the security system worked. but the actions from that ...

Or maybe they wanted to flee. sometimes people have guns illegally. they dont know youre going to discover it, and they cant otherwise legally possess a gun, like a convicted felon, for example. and if you -- you know, as a cop and an agent my whole life, its often happens when you discover contraband, guns, narcotics, victims, and the people know you just discovered it, thats the time they want to flee or fight because they know you know. and so, sometimes -- im not saying thats what happened h...

Quickly this was accidental when you have this person who fired the firearm now missing? >> theyre going to interview the tsa agents that interacted with that passenger. and the actions that were took -- that he undertook after the discovery of the weapon is going to be a large part of what the investigators and the police are looking at. so, this is much more likely the actions of someone that forgot that that firearm was in their bag. sadly, we see a number of those every year. this year has b...

What happened when the gun fired? what did the guy say? what did he do? what did tsa say? what did they do? that would bring some clarity. where is the gun? where is the guy? and you know, what is the rest of the facts that make up this event? >> i mean, listen, the guys lucky he didnt kill someone in that airport. >> that could have happened. >> and as are the people that are -- that were surrounding this individual. as that bag was being searched. but as jay mentioned, this is still a federal ...

I.e., into atlanta, and so from my understanding of, jay, what youre telling us is that is not the responsibility of the tsa then to apprehend that passenger. that then falls to the jurisdiction of the law enforcement. jim cavanaugh, if youre still with me, could you weigh in on that? >> you know, jays exactly right. the tsa agents are not armed. they are not there to arrest you. their job is to stop and prevent contraband thats harmful, explosives, poison gas materials, firearms, knives, nunchu...

Officials tell me that they believe that they will be fully staffed through the holidays. they dont expect any delays due to their staffing, so thats not something to be overly concerned about. >> got it. >> one thing to know. the tsa, every single day, tweets out things that people bring to checkpoints that are illegal, whether its guns, knives, martial arts weapons, whether its guns, every single day. people bring things to airports that shouldnt be brought to airports and shouldnt be brought ...

It is not supposed to happen, as you know, but it happens fairly frequently. >> a loaded gun, though, jay? i mean, how often they finding loaded guns in carry-ons? >> its pretty often. pretty often. if youre on the tsas twitter account, they tweet out every day, they will tweet out pictures of the guns. they will tweet out pictures of ammunition. most people, jim cavanaugh, will tell you, if theyre carrying a gun, theyre carrying a gun thats loaded. so i think its a fairly common occurrence. obv...