Transportation Security Agency (TSA) officials at Detroit-Wayne County Metropolitan Airport found a loaded .380 pistol in an 76 year old man’s ankle holster, and they are touting the discovery as a justification of the advanced body-imaging scanners used around the country.
“TSA’s advanced imaging technology using automated target recognition (ATR) software detected [on Saturday] a hidden item on a passenger’s ankle,” the agency announced yesterday. “While resolving the alarm, TSA Officers discovered a loaded .380 caliber Ruger Prescott firearm hidden in an ankle holster. Local law enforcement responded and arrested the individual.”
The discovery is “just more proof that this technology can and will find dangerous items,” a TSA blogger argues, even while acknowledging that a traditional metal detector would have found the weapon just as surely. “While that’s a true statement, the walk through metal detectors cannot detect non metallic items lke explosives, which are the greatest threat to aviation today.”
