Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Lose your wallet, no gun purchases for you!

Here's a happy combination, gun control and airport security. There will be a quiz at the end of post: which is worse?

Via Emergent Chaos, comes this heart warming story about what happens if you lose your wallet at the airport:
For more than a month this summer, airline travelers who forgot or lost their identification ended up being added to homeland security database of suspicious persons, a secret change that accompanied a tightening of the rules about flying without identification in June.
RTWT, but basically your name got added into a database if you lost (or someone stole) your wallet between gates at O'Hare. Not to worry, though, it would only be in the database for 15 years:
But either way, according to a USA Today story, their names get added to a database of people believed to be possible threats to aviation. The names are kept for 15 years and can be shared with law enforcement.
"But Ted," I hear you say, "what's the problem with sharing this with law enforcement?" Hmmm, what could possibly go wrong?

Then, the article speaks of Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League, in a rather negative light

He opposes the idea of asking people for background checks or identification at gun shows, even if they are suspected terrorists listed on a terrorist watch list.

So do I. Suspected terrorists are not convicted terrorists.
Maybe they just lost their wallet in O'Hare.

Data collected for one purpose is often not useful for other purposes. Even when it's not being used to push someone's agenda.

Oh, and the quiz? It was a trick question. They're both worse, when you put them together.

No comments: