Editorial: Keep track of your gun or face the consequences
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There is only so much you can rely upon people to do for themselves — especially when it’s clear they aren’t doing it.
Given the opportunity, people will drive their cars faster than the speed limit. To address that, we have speeding tickets that make it expensive to ignore the posted maximum. If the fines don’t do it, it might progress to a reckless driving charge. The state keeps track of all these little slips of paper; get enough points from them and you can lose your license.
The same thing can happen with your kid missing school. It’s your job to make sure they show up. If they don’t, you can be held responsible for their truancy. If that becomes a perpetual problem, Children and Youth Services may have to step in.
Pay your taxes. Inspect your car. Shovel your sidewalk. There are all kinds of areas where the government lets you have control until you show that you aren’t being responsible about it. Then the authorities take over.
And so it should not be a surprise to anyone that guns in the airport are reaching that point. What might be a surprise is that it has taken so long for new action to be proposed.
Nationwide, Transportation Security Administration employees seized 5,072 guns in the first nine months of 2023 at a rate that officials say all but guaranteed breaking the 2022 record of 6,542. That’s especially likely as the busiest travel days of the year fall in November and December.
In Southwestern Pennsylvania, the numbers have also been record breaking. The previous peak was 2019, when 35 firearms were seized at Pittsburgh International Airport. On Christmas Day, TSA found its 44th gun of 2023.
State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, is proposing legislation that would revoke concealed carry permits for anyone caught with a gun at an airport security checkpoint.
It is surprising that there is no such law already. The state gives authority to sheriffs to decide whether to revoke a permit, and taking a gun to an airport where they are not allowed is not included as a specific reason to deny. Other actions, including shoplifting and possessing marijuana, are reasons to pull a permit.
Last year, the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association said all 67 county sheriffs have agreed to review referrals from federal authorities to consider possible revocation. But that doesn’t mean the permits would be pulled — only that it would be taken under advisement.
Frankel’s proposal would do that. It is a common- sense idea. It makes gun owners who want to continue to exercise the ability to carry a concealed weapon show the responsibility of knowing where it is, rather than being shocked to find it mixed in with socks and underwear in a carry-on bag.
This is an instance where responsible gun owners are not at risk. But those who are showing they can’t handle the task would have consequences.