BY BRANDON SLOANE
New legislation by the Transportation Security Administration is being enacted that will drastically change how safe people will be able to feel on airplanes. As of April 25th 2013, passengers will be allowed to carry small knives with them on airline flights. Screening for these knives, in the eyes of the TSA, have become more of a hassle than a priority. This shocking move has left many stunned and even more outraged. How could the TSA be so irresponsible as to let a deadly weapon such as a knife be carried onto an airplane? It is of my opinion that this new regulation is both extremely dangerous and hazardous to anyone who decides to travel by air.
When you really think about it, an airplane is essentially a big steel box elevated 30,000 feet in the air. People inside will have nowhere to go for hours and are basically trapped in the vehicle. So when you combine the sheer confinement of being in an airplane with the prospects of people around you possibly having deadly knives, the results can be fatal. If you were to get into a heated argument with another passenger and it eventually came to blows (as arguments sometimes do), and the other person pulled a knife on you, what can you do to avoid being stabbed? There is nowhere to run and the narrow space inside the plane make you an easy target to get attacked. Additionally, other people around you who are innocent bystanders run the risk of getting hurt as well if a knife fight were to ever occur on a flight. It just isn’t safe to have knives when you are in a place like an airplane that is restricted for space.
Another reason why this legislation should not take action is that it can serve as a precedent so in the future other deadly items could be allowed on flights. Lobbyists’ decades from now may be arguing, “If small knives are allowed on planes, why can’t we bring our handguns? What about larger knives and other blades? Or explosives?” We are opening the Pandora’s box of airplane safety: if we let small knives on board, soon other items will be able to pass through security checks that could endanger people’s lives.
But the most important reason is simply this: we have seen too many horrifying things happen when weapons are in the hands of the wrong people on airplanes. According to airsafe.com, there have been 10 fatal airplane hijackings in the United States since 1970, including the bombing of the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. According to TSA administrator John Pistole, who is in full support of the legislation, he doesn’t believe that small knives could be used by terrorists to take over airplanes. Additionally, he went on to say that searching for these small knives is time consuming for his security agents. I can’t speak for everyone, but personally, I would gladly accept extra waiting time at the security check in order to keep these knives banned from flights. There really is no telling what someone would be able to do if he got his hands on a knife in a plane and Pistole is blatantly ignoring that fact.
Our fundamental safety is at risk with this new policy and there is no telling the unforeseen consequences that could arise. Down the road, we may see a plane jacking resulting in the unwarranted deaths of many brought on by someone wielding a small knife. We need to take a stand against this before it is too late at a national tragedy is on our hands.
