Man with gun in luggage arrested

Now, this story is actually going to go in a different direction that you’d expect, because I’m going to be applauding the actions of the TSA for catching this wanker. You see, this isn’t a 2nd Amendment case.

A man was charged with trying to bring a gun wrapped in aluminum foil and a towel aboard a plane at Jacksonville International Airport, according to authorities.

So, I had to go digging around the various news stories to extract various bits of information that were published in one place, but not in another. So here are the fun bits that I was able to find.

Ahmad Abdallah Abu Ghanam was on his way to Chicago, and then Jordan, on Monday when Transportation Security Administration workers found the .380-calibar semiautomatic gun in his checked luggage. The serial number had been scratched off, Michael Stewart, director of external affairs for the airport, said Tuesday.

Abu Ghanam told police he bought the weapon on the street a month ago and he did not realize the serial number was missing.

The plot thickens. But wait, there’s more! Another article on the same issue points out that the chap in question was a native of Jordan, on his way back to his home country. As I pointed out above, the Chicago Sun-Times mentions that the serial number was removed from the weapon, and that it was wrapped in a towel and aluminum foil.

Okay, so lets add up all the particulars. We have a dude from Jordan who buys a gun “on the street”. Say for a second that when he bought the gun “on the street” it was already missing its serial number. There’s one felony. Of course, if he scratched off the SN, that’s a felony as well. Add to the mix that the gun was wrapped in a towel and aluminum foil, ostensibly to hide it from the X-ray machines (which didn’t work too well).

So, Guy from Jordon, an actual illegal gun (because it had the SN removed), and finally that same gun being literally smuggled (or at least attempted) onto a plan.

But it’s not an attempted terrorist attack, because that would be racial profiling. I’m sure that it’s in fact the NRA’s fault. You see, Wayne LaPierre probably bought the gun at a gun show for a crack dealer, who scratched off the serial number and sold it to our innocent choirboy while he was on his way to entreat Allah for the betterment of mankind. This was all part of the NRA plot to cast the blame for all gun crime in America at the feet of Al-Quaeda.