This past weekend, I had
occasion to pass through the security of the Philadelphia Airport on route home
(to MN) after a week-long visit with my dad (in PA). Like any airport, I was required to show my
boarding pass and a photo ID. I used my
government issued photo ID as a U.S. military (retired) veteran.
Current TSA standards
allow airport passengers to use their Costco membership cards at security
check-points; yet, concealed handgun licenses are “not acceptable forms of
identification.” Can you believe
it? A photo consumer membership card is
acceptable, but a government issued permit to carry is not? You don’t suppose there’s a ‘hidden agenda’
here do you?
Congressmen Diane Black
(TN-R) and Bill Flores (TX-R) have introduced a bill – the Nondiscriminatory
Transportation Screening Act – demanding the agency recognize gun licenses as a
legitimate form of ID. Additionally, the
legislation would prevent the TSA from “collecting or storing information”
about individuals with handgun licenses.
While alerting the
public to the new legislation, Black called out TSA’s double standards. “It is mind-boggling that the TSA has
reportedly accepted Costco membership cards at airport screenings, yet its
website expressly prohibits the use of handgun carry permits,” she said. Black went on to say, “Why the double
standard? Handgun licenses are a
government-issued form of identification and no one has given me a valid reason
why they cannot be accepted at TSA checkpoints. Americans who exercise their Second Amendment
freedoms have bared the brunt of much hostility from this Administration over
the last seven years.”
Black is not exaggerating
when she says the Obama White House has been unkind to gun owners. Throughout his tenure in office, Obama has
introduced several unpopular gun control initiatives, including the expansion
of background checks. The president
plans to make gun control a key issue next year.
It’s no wonder law-abiding
American gun-owners walk around nowadays feeling like criminals. The least the government can do is make their
trips to the airport a little more convenient.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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