Friday, January 13, 2017

The Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting

Everybody has heard about it by now.  I was aware of the incident late last Friday, where a gunman opened fire near the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport.  Five killed, eight wounded, and about 36 injured during the ensuing panic.

Milady mentioned to me earlier this week that she had heard that the shooter carried his gun in carry-on luggage.  That rumor is bogus.  All information seems to indicate that he checked his gun through the standard protocol that TSA follows for traveling with guns and ammo.
A county official says the Fort Lauderdale airport shooter pulled a gun out of a checked bag, loaded in a bathroom and started shooting, killing five people and wounding at least eight.
Competitivie shooters and hunters routinely carry firearms and ammunition on commercial flights.  There are procedures in place to safely accommodate the transportation of firearms and ammunition. Evidently, this knowledge is brand-new to some groups, who think that airports are gun-free zones. Joe Huffman reports on the activities of one such group.  Following Joe's link, we come to this tidbit.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Passengers should be able to count on TSA and local and state law enforcement authorities to protect them.  The principal lessons from Lockerbie, the 9/11 attacks, and the Brussels, Istanbul and now Fort Lauderdale airport massacres are that air transportation continues to be a prime target for terrorism and mass murder.
I hate to butcher Ben Franklin's quote on liberty vs safety, yet it seems as if the usual suspects are lining up to once again try to abrogate my rights.  A pox on them and their efforts.

1 comment:

Eaton Rapids Joe said...

I am curious.

Is the shooter's name "Esteban Santiago"?

Or is the shooter "a Muslim convert who years before joining the U.S. Army took on an Islamic name (Aashiq Hammad)" (Judicial Watch).

If he changed his name "years before", then why are all of the media outlets listing his "Hispanic" name?

Was he traveling under his old name? Did law enforcement spin the story? Or did media spin the story?