Airport security.

I had an interesting experience yesterday. When I drove into the
airport (White Plains, HPN), there was a checkpoint set up on the access
road. It looked semi-permanent; a drive-through pavillion (sort of a
large-tent open at both ends) with flood lights installed inside.

It was manned by an armed guard (I'm no expert, but it looked like an
M16 to me) in military dress, accompanied by a civilian police officer.
The military guy asked to see my drivers license while the police
officer searched the trunk of the car. Very polite, and it only took a
minute, but very no-nonsense either.

Anybody else see this level of security at their airports? HPN is not
your typical GA field. It's got scheduled airline traffic, and even the
GA side of the field is home to stuff you don't normally think of as GA
(it's not uncommon to see privately owned 737's on the ramp). There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

--kyler

In article ,
Kyler Laird wrote:

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

--kyler

I assume I would have found out what the business end of an M-16 looked
like and at the very least gotten to answer a lot of pointed questions.
And I probably wouldn't be sitting here in my living room today typing
this.

In article , Kyler Laird
wrote:

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

Ah! I can see it now! I have a high-power rifle with a scope and ammo
in the trunk.
Security: "Excuse me sir, what is this and what do you intend to do
with it?"
You: "Well I (fill in the blank)."

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Kyler Laird wrote:

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

--kyler

I assume I would have found out what the business end of an M-16 looked
like and at the very least gotten to answer a lot of pointed questions.
And I probably wouldn't be sitting here in my living room today typing
this.

Maintenance tools and firearms locked in a trunk are illegal where you live?

EDR writes:

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

Ah! I can see it now! I have a high-power rifle with a scope and ammo
in the trunk.
Security: "Excuse me sir, what is this and what do you intend to do
with it?"
You: "Well I (fill in the blank)."

"...plan to take it to my plane and leave."

Now what?

--kyler

In article , Kyler Laird
wrote:

EDR writes:

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

Ah! I can see it now! I have a high-power rifle with a scope and ammo
in the trunk.
Security: "Excuse me sir, what is this and what do you intend to do
with it?"
You: "Well I (fill in the blank)."

"...plan to take it to my plane and leave."
Now what?

I was going to post: "You are going on a hunting trip and plan to fly
to the destination and meet your guide. You have a high powered rifle
in the trunk with ammo."

In article om,
"Dave Stadt" wrote:

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Kyler Laird wrote:

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

--kyler

I assume I would have found out what the business end of an M-16 looked
like and at the very least gotten to answer a lot of pointed questions.
And I probably wouldn't be sitting here in my living room today typing
this.

Maintenance tools and firearms locked in a trunk are illegal where you live?



No, they're not. But you asked me what they would have done if they
found them in my trunk, and I gave you my best guess.

What would you expect would happen?

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.

[...]

Maintenance tools and firearms locked in a trunk are illegal where you live?

No, they're not. But you asked me what they would have done if they
found them in my trunk, and I gave you my best guess.

What would you expect would happen?

I think it was a decent guess. The point I was trying to address was the
"seemed quite reasonable" part. If you think it's reasonable that they're
searching cars, what *reasonable* thing do you expect them to do when they
find something interesting?

I contend that what they're doing is only reasonable from the perspective
of someone wanting to cover his butt and increase his budget. It has
nothing to do with preventing violent crime ('cept maybe kidnapping). It
has everything to do with hassling people who are not causing problems in
order to make bystanders feel warm and fuzzy.

Then again, maybe I'm just a cynic. (Who'd a thunk it?)

--kyler

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
In article om,
"Dave Stadt" wrote:

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Kyler Laird wrote:

Roy Smith writes:

There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national
security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable
and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal
on
the GA ramp.

So...what would they have done if they discovered a bunch of
maintenance
tools and firearms in your trunk? Escort you to your plane?

--kyler

I assume I would have found out what the business end of an M-16
looked
like and at the very least gotten to answer a lot of pointed
questions.
And I probably wouldn't be sitting here in my living room today typing
this.

Maintenance tools and firearms locked in a trunk are illegal where you
live?



No, they're not. But you asked me what they would have done if they
found them in my trunk, and I gave you my best guess.

What would you expect would happen?

I would expect them to say have a nice day, apologize for delaying you and
let you go about your business. Anything less would be unreasonable,
intolerable and unacceptable.