In the wake of Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson’s recent bust of a major gun smuggling ring, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer will this week call on the Transportation Security Administration to immediately implement a national requirement that all airports physically screen airline and airport employees each day before work. As it stands now, pilots and flight crew pass through metal detectors before work, but most other employees (luggage loaders, cleaning crew, repair workers, and post-security checkpoint attendants included) are exempt from this physical screening.
On January 7, as the Forum is finalizing publication for the week, Schumer and Thompson are in Washington, DC gearing up to point out this dangerous loophole in airport security, which allowed an expansive gun running scheme to occur. Because most workers are not required to go through metal detectors, a former Delta Airlines employee was able to bring backpacks and carry-on baggage full of guns and ammunition onto nearly twenty commercial flights in 2014, from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to New York. Four men have been charged by Thompson for allegedly conspiring to sell 153 firearms, destined for the streets of Brooklyn. Schumer has stated that while most airline employees are honest, upstanding citizens, the potential for smuggling guns, drugs, or even explosives onto airplanes undetected makes necessary an immediate change in security policy.
By Forum Staff
