Necklace pendant deemed a security risk.

That's the headline from the Toronto Star which is reporting that Marnina Norys, a 39-year-old Ph.D. student in Canada, was stopped by security and prohibited from wearing her necklace into the terminal.

Last week, security officials at Kelowna International Airport in British Columbia forced Norys to remove a silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a Colt .45 pistol.

The 2-inch pendant apparently was deemed a security risk.

"When the woman pointed at the pendant I had no idea what she was talking about," Norys told the Star. "They made me feel ashamed, as if I should have known that it was wrong to wear this type of jewelry."

An airport security official told Norys was told that replica firearms are banned from planes and that she'd have to check her jewelry.

According to the Star, Dave Smith, director of screening operations with the Canadian Air Transport Authority (CATSA), issued a written apology to Norys and wrote that the screening officer "made a judgment call, rather than refer to CATSA's standard operating procedures. In retrospect, your revolver-shaped pendant is not a threat and should have been allowed on board the aircraft." --Roger Yu



[edit on 4-6-2008 by alienstar]

[edit on 4-6-2008 by alienstar]

This is the 'push push push ' to see what be gotten away with by security.

Had she not complained or protested and got an apology they would of thought 'yep we can get away with a bit more here'... as for the low paid badly trained goons who man these checks, God help us if they ever have a csase where they need to think and act quickly and appropiately.

Because we the traveling public are not allowed to answer back, some of these little people have gotten hitler syndrome, my bet would be if someone pulled out a real gun they would be hiding behind something crying like a child.

Dont get me wrong im all for increased security but the people who employ these nomarks will be to blame when it all goes pear shaped because they are to afraid to do their jobs, they get their kicks out of picking on women, and believe it or not big big men, its the only time in their lifes they wil get to talk down to a human mountain and get away with it, and i should know i am one who has been, its so hard not to react, if you do its a world of hurt.

I posted something like this on the thread about the guy in a similar situtation but his "questionable" item was a T-shirt of an armed Transformer.

Private security officers are not bound by the same obligations as a police officer. Security guards need no probable cause, or even a law to back up their orders. What they say goes, and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

EDIT to add: Down here in the States anyway.

[edit on 6/5/0808 by jackinthebox]