what about the times where there were obviously attempts at smuggling and other offenses?
You could catch a lot of drug dealers if you allowed the police to routinely search every house and administer blood tests just to make sure.
That cost does not justify that level of government power.
A concealed gun in a playstation sounds scary. But I can tell you from experience that gun is useless as a hijacking tool if it's dismantled. If his intent was to do anybody harm he would have picked a different gun or not taken it apart.
If you're going to justify airport security to find guns great I'm with you.
But they are using this incident and a lot of others to justify the TSA. I don't think finding someone smuggling drugs or some dumbass trying to sneak his dismantled ruger through security justifies everything the TSA has done.
Here is a small sample of the things people have gone through and consider if it's worth it to produce the list of items in that blog.
Here is a small sample of things the TSA has done to "protect" air travelers. Do you really think this is worth it to catch people breaking the law without intent to actually harm anyone?
http://abombazine.blogspot.com/p/master-list-of-tsa-crimes-and-abuses.html
"Kathleen, USA, November 19th, 2010, 8:11 am This is a ridiculous policy and it needs to stop. I fly regularly for work. Last week, even though I had set off no alarms, a TSA agent made me unbutton my shirt exposing my bra and THEN frisked me under my shirt, focusing on my breasts. She also spent a lot of time "frisking" my genital area, again under my skirt, which exposed my underwear. It was humiliating. I debated canceling my trip home for Thanksgiving, I was so upset about it.I complained but was told since anything that falls under the umbrella of "security procedure" there is zero recourse. So why is the TSA so far above the law? There is nothing you can do if they do something incredibly abusive"
"Sam, Florida, November 19th, 2010, 4:56 pm . . . I knew what to expect on the pat down put was still bothered by it. My crotch area was well probed by the TSA agent, my breats were well probed, I had to lift my shirt up while the TSA agent shoved her fingers into my the wasteband of my pants, etc."
"31-year-old New York marketing executive Robin Kassner beaten by airport police, thrown to the ground, suffered concussion, jailed. Reagan National Airport 2007. "
"TSA Violates 10-Year-Old Child at Reagan National Airport My youngest daughter is a trauma victim and severely developmentally delayed and travels in crowded places in a Convaid wheelchair stroller along with her service dog (Grizwald). . . . I told the agent when I realized what was happening that he couldn't do this to her because of her disabilities. She is a trauma victim and has had every kind of abuse a child could endure before we adopted her (including suspected sexual abuse) so having an adult male take her from us was way over the top to begin with. I told the TSA agent my daughter was a victim of trauma a number of times. I am talking some serious life threatening trauma that has caused extensive neurological damage . . . I was told to be quiet and to mind my tone. "
""I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me," Sawyer said. "Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.""I was just so embarrassed, so humiliated,"
"TSA required that he get out of his sling, remove the cast, and then of course put it all back together. As his mother it was all I could do to remain non-confrontational--we were trying to make the last flight of the day. I could hold the sling, but only he could re-seat the cast because only he could gauge which movements were tolerable--any movement of the wrist was excruciatingly painful."
"A TSA agent convicted of stealing more than $800,000 worth of goods from travelers said this type of theft is “commonplace” among airport security. Almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers since 2003."