Republican congressman "delayed" at airport for gun

[Superfly]

So, our "equal before the law" principles are really being upheld here:

<snip>
Ind. Rep. Hostettler Detained at Airport

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana was briefly detained Tuesday when airport security workers found a handgun in his briefcase as he was going through a checkpoint on a trip back to Washington.

The five-term Republican congressman was preparing to board a US Airways flight at Louisville International Airport when the gun was found, said his press secretary Michael Jahr.

"Apparently the congressman had left a handgun in his briefcase and forgot it was in there and took it to the security checkpoint, where it was detected and they detained him briefly to make sure he had no ill intent as they should do," Jahr said.

<snip> Yahoo

Thank God the Rep was able to continue on his way to perform his duties like seeing other people are not treated with the same respect.

<snip>
Man arrested with knives, stun gun at O'Hare (Old story)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A man was arrested Saturday night at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, when he tried to board a flight with nine knives, a can of Mace and a stun gun, police said.

The man may have some connection with two men who were detained Sept.12 in Texas as material witnesses in the investigation into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, CNN has learned.

Police arrested Subash Gurung, 27, who said he was from Nepal, and charged him with unlawful possession of a weapon and attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon, both misdemeanor charges.

Link
<snip>

[MrBenchley]

1. You might recall....

That this charmer in the old story got nabbed while pResident Turd and Tom DeLay were fighting to keep airport security privatized and in the hands of assholes like Argenbright...

"CNN has learned that Gurung listed the same West Hollywood Avenue apartment address in Chicago as Ayub Ali Khan, a material witness in the September 11 attacks.
Khan and Mohamed Jaweed Azmath were arrested September 12 in Fort Worth, Texas, on an Amtrak train heading to San Antonio, Texas. Found in their possession were $5,500 cash, two flat box-cutter type knives and hair dye. Azmath also had copies of numerous passport photos.
The hijackers of the planes that crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were believed to have used box-cutters as weapons.
Gurung's arrest also focused renewed attention on Argenbright Security Inc., the firm for which the fired employees worked. Argenbright reached a settlement in October with the Justice Department, admitting it had failed to complete court-ordered background checks on its employees. "

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/04/inv.ohare.arrest/

After the Democrats finally pushed the bill through to beef up security, the GOP hamstrung that legislation by knocking down the high school diploma requirement and hiring many of the same screeners the private firms had used.

[Superfly]

2. Yes, and now

besides incredibly inept screeners, we have to deal with their shitty attitudes and be treated like cattle to enter a secure area.

[Wickerman]

3. Never minding of course

that we can go to any steakhouse in the airport mall once past security and grab up steak knives, what have you. Its all window dressing.

[MrBenchley]

4. More on Nutso...

"In this day and age it takes real stupidity balls to take your glock on the plane. That's why Indiana should be so damn proud that one of their Congressmen did just that:

Rep. John Hostettler, R-Indiana, "completely forgot" he had the gun in his bag as he prepared to take a US Airways flight to Washington for the first day of work after a two-week recess, a spokesman for the congressman said.
A Homeland Security Department official said Hostettler had a loaded 9 mm Glock pistol in his bag at Louisville International Airport .

You know, to watch for terrorists. John is quite the capper, having politically "killed" (Hah! Get it?) Frank McClosky in 1994 by calling him Frank McClinton and relying on anti-abortion and christian fundamentalist groups for support. After voting "No" on the Violence Against Women Act (one of only three crazies to do so!) he fought tooth-and-nail to remove a proposed restriction on the number of airplane pilots able to carry guns per flight. Word has it that he simply wanted to broaden the definition of "pilot" to include "passenger" and thus, himself.

Unfortunately, he lost that battle but in real life. No matter, he'd won it in his mind. So imagine his chagrin when they took his glock at the airport. Damn liberals! Anyway, congratulations Indiana, you've truly elected one of America's finest."

http://www.pandagon.net/mtarchives/002017.html

[Lefty48197]

5. The NRA rage is going to start boiling over

You know how the NRA is always desperately trying to convince all the rest of us how important it is to ENFORCE THE EXISTING GUN LAWS! Over and over they implore us to PLEASE PLEASE enforce the existing gun laws.
Oh wait... this guy's a Republican? Nevermind. The NRA doesn't think that gun laws apply to Republicans/NRA members.

[MrBenchley]

6. Funny, isn't it...

So many self-styled "law abiding responsible gun owning Democrats"...but so few of them have got word one to say about this asswipe.

Seems sometimes like the RKBA crowd here goes out of its way not to criticize a Republican, don't it?

And jinkies, what a swell gun-totin' loon this guy is, too....

" Breast cancer survivors from Indiana who met recently with Rep. John Hostetler (R-IN) to urge support for breast cancer research got an unpleasant surprise: the Congressman wanted to lecture them about abortion.
Apparently Rep. Hostetler is more impressed by some highly controversial studies claiming to show links between breast cancer and abortion than about the experience of women in his district who actually have breast cancer. ...When Rep. Hostetler was asked if he would support funding for breast cancer research, he said he would support it "in the context that it should be funded." When asked exactly what that context would be, he answered, "I don't understand the question." "

[Low Drag]

7. I think the larger issue is being missed here

It is illegal to own/carry a handgun in Washington DC. Now I guess if the guy lived in VA it's OK to take it with him, but declared and in checked luggage.

It should bother everyone if a congress person can have a firearm in Washington DC when citizens can not.

[OpSomBlood]

8. Two issues at hand in this case:

First, there is no excuse for Hostettler attempting to carry a handgun through an airport security check. This is just moronic and I don't think that anyone here is attempting to defend his right to do it.

Secondly, as LowDrag mentioned, is the fact that the general populace in D.C. is not allowed to carry a gun, but a prominent politician can. It bothers me even more when prominent anti-gun legislators have 24-hour armed personal security. Apparently, Dianne Feinstein thinks that nobody should be allowed to own a gun...except the people whose job it is to protect her.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a Senate stipend to cover bodyguards or can afford to wait ten minutes for the police to arrive on the scene. They have to take their personal defense into their own hands.

[Lefty48197]

9. Keep in mind that there are a lot of nuts out there

who will villify certain politicians and try to whip the Tim McVeigh's of the world into bumping off this politician, or that politician (substitute Judge if you will). For that reason, I can see the need to extend certain privledges to people who could be targeted like that. I think judges have always worn guns under their robes. You can't just have ordinary people carrying guns into the courtroom, but judges deserve that privledge.

[OpSomBlood]

10. I agree.

But on a similar note, there are "ordinary" people who, by virtue of their stature or other characteristics, are "targeted" by violent criminals, too. These people should have the right to defend themselves every bit as much as judges and politicians.

[MrBenchley]

15. Hell, we had news of just such an "enthusiast" the other day...

Anmd for some reason, we had a sizable chunk of the bullets for brains bunch trying to pretend there was something about his arrest that was unjustified...

[MrSandman]

11. Like I said in the GITN thread...

1) I hate it when I forget I am carrying a loaded handgun.
2) What a moron.

and I will add...

The moron should be treated like John Citizen.

[Young Socialist]

12. wait a minute, it's a plastic glock. i thought they were developed

specifically to be "invisible" to metal detectors?

[OpSomBlood]

13. Urban legend.

There is no such thing as a "plastic Glock," a "porcelain Glock" or a "Glock 5." We have Die Hard 2 to thank for perpetuating this myth into the mainstream.

The only plastic part of a Glock is the grip/lower assembly and the trigger. The barrel, slide and springs are all steel. And the ammunition.

Glock has never developed a handgun with the intent of evading a metal detector, and the materials technology to do so is still far off in the distance.

[Low Drag]

14. Sarcasm?

Sarcasm, I hope!

Edit:
Wait, so this guy was not kidding?

I've seen a Glock x-ray, it looks like a Glock, frame (plastic grip section) and all.