Man attempts to enter Magic Kingdom with gun, charged for concealed weapon

But... But... Security Theater doesn't work!!!@

If what Disney does is theater, I can assure you it's interactive theater.

Oh, I agree. They do it well, but this certainly proves a point.

"...she noticed a bulge in a man’s pants."

I guess he liked being frisked!

Raven-Phile said:

Oh, I agree. They do it well, but this certainly proves a point.

Yes. That some legal gun owners are dumb enough to try to skirt the rules.

If you want to take a weapon into Disney to cause mass damage, trust me, you don't walk through the gate with it stuffed down your pants.

All this proves to me is exactly what the "security theater" crowd has been saying all along - it's the illusion of safety.

"Oh look! They stopped a guy from bringing his gun in the park when he tried to ignore the rules. That clearly means checking bags at the gate will stop a legitmate attempt at terrorism."

A friend of a co-worker brought a carry on bag with a gun in it to the TSA check point at Hopkins. Totally forgot it was in the bag. Said he carried it with him pretty much everywhere so he just never thought about it (much like I think (or don't) about carrying a wallet). When he looked at the screen and saw the obvious gun on the x-ray, he noted to the TSA agents, "what kind of idiot would bring a bag with a gun in it?" But then he noticed there was no one behind him in the line. Sinking realization came over him. He asked if he could just take the bag back to his car (he had a valid carry permit). Had he remembered it was in the bag 2 minutes earlier, no problem. But not once you place the bag on the belt. Spent the night in jail and the legal process is still not done yet for him. And apparently, it happens more than you would think.

TSA would likely tout this as evidence that they are making air travel safer. But in reality, had he been permitted to board the plane, what would have happened? He would have gotten off at his destination and gone about his way. So how much safer did they make air travel?

DHS reported earlier this year after going undercover that they found TSA to have a 95% failure rate. But thankfully, they confiscated my 6oz. tube of hair gel on one of my recent flights. I didn't have bad intentions, but they couldn't have known that. When I was detained and questioned, they let me go after I offered to give them all a fabulous hairdo.

I wonder what the dude's intentions were. Was it for protection in case of a terrorist attack? Was it to cause harm to someone he knew in the park at the time? Was it to aid in a sexual crime? Did he just forget he had it?

He was going in the park alone, so I expect he had bad intentions, unless, of course, he was a weirdo like us, and just wanted to experience his amusement park hobby.

Why is that automatically a negative? Could his family or friends not have been inside already? Even if that isn't the case, why is that an automatic negative?

GoBucks89 said:

He asked if he could just take the bag back to his car (he had a valid carry permit). Had he remembered it was in the bag 2 minutes earlier, no problem. But not once you place the bag on the belt. Spent the night in jail and the legal process is still not done yet for him.

That's a shame. Texas recently changed their law so that, if a gun is caught at the security checkpoint, they give you the chance to take it to your car. If you refuse, only then does it become a felony.

Along with this thread, you should all check out the perfect Key and Peele (from Comedy Central) video online regarding the crafty TSA who have stumped the terrorists at every turn. Worth the three minutes- money back guarantee.

Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see.... oh, it is a gun.

Vater said:

... they found TSA to have a 95% failure rate.

What makes that an especially appalling statistic:

• TSA is told in advance when they will be tested

• TSA has gotten progressively worse over the years

People who have concealed carry permits carry their guns all over the place and are not a problem. This person either forgot he had his gun with him or didn't know that he wasn't allowed to carry it into the park. This is exactly why the security is called security theater. They confiscate items from people who mean no harm, if a real bad guy would want to shoot up the park I highly doubt he would just innocently enter the checkpoint and get caught.

Seems to me worth noting, according to the story, that this guy's permit expired a decade ago, and presumably that visit to Magic Kingdom wasn't the first time in ten years he'd had the gun on his person.

Also, what Pete said.

Devils advocate here: @Pete: How do we know he wasn't planning harm? How do we know that the guy hasn't been a legal, responsible gun owner for years and years, and then today is the day of his big event? Legal permits do not prevent anyone from doing something illegal. He doesn't get special privileges.

The Colorado movie theater shooter was a legal gun owner too. I mean, obviously he was a psycho, but he got his guns legally. The fact the he purposely sought out a "Gun Free" movie theater is rarely mentioned in the media, but it's true. And since the topic of the TSA was brought up... the 9/11 hijackers were all here legally too. Four of them were students at flight schools, legally learning how to fly planes.

All 3 of these examples... Perfectly legal, law abiding people right up until the time that they weren't.

As far as "Security Theater," did they stop a potentially horrible crime? Who knows? We may never know. But like Gonch said, that's not really how you do it. Ones wishing to cause harm inside an amusement park will find a way. As a regular visitor to CP, I could probably come up with a way to sneak all kinds of guns and explosives in if I wanted to, assuming they had metal detectors up front of course. A slow drive back to the Soak City lot and a day of observation walking around the park, and I'll bet you I'd find a way.

So will "security theater" stop a terrorist attack? Of course not. But it did stop a guy with a gun from entering Disney World.

P.S. This is not meant to be a liberal, "guns are evil" type post.

Since he has, apparently, been carrying a gun without the appropriate permit for a decade (from the WFTV report: "Gerson claimed he had a concealed weapons permit, but officials said the permit expired 10 years ago."), we do know he's not a legal, responsible gun owner.

The Colorado shooter was a legal gun owner -- who bough a mountain of ammunition. I'd rather live in a country where everyone has the right to own a gun, subject to reasonable* restrictions, just as there are reasonable restrictions placed on other Constitutional rights; so that when someone is stockpiling a large amount of ammunition, for example, they're checked out.

*The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech; but a person can't libel another person, or scream "fire" in a crowded theater, without facing repercussions.

Can someone post a brief explanation of the term "security theater?" I don't understand what it means.

^It's a derogatory term for policies and actions that are designed to LOOK like they enhance security, but probably don't really achieve anything meaningful.

Exhibit A being TSA; as mentioned upthread, TSA misses 95% of the contraband items in tests of the TSA system that TSA is informed of in advance. Seriously. That's like the teacher announcing a test, telling you what questions will be on the test and what answers they're looking for, and you fail the test. It borders on deliberate incompetence.