It appears that a so-called weapon commonly referred to as “cat eyes” is showing up in more carry-on bags, according to the TSA, to the extent that an urgent warning has been issued to leave them at home.
TSA Warns Over “Cat Eyes” At Airport Security Checkpoints
Cat eyes are akin to brass knuckles, but shaped like a cat…
As described by the TSA:
“Cat eyes,” which perhaps are better known for their dangerous ears than their eyes, fall along the lines of brass knuckles. A user places their fingers through the cat’s eyes and the ears become dangerous weapons, much like a set of brass knuckles, only sharp and pointy.
When these items are detected at the security checkpoint, the passengers and their carry-on items are pulled off to the side and their bags opened and searched to remove the weapons. At that point, the TSA officers give the traveler their choices to either return the item to their vehicle; hand them off to a non-traveling companion; return to the airline counter to place them in a checked bag; or voluntarily surrender them to TSA for disposal.
Some of the “cat eyes” are metal, others are manufactured in hard plastic. Some look more like dogs than cats, but either way, they are intended to do harm. Many are detected attached to keychains.
I’ve never heard of cat eyes before, but I can see why they are classified as weapons and also why they are likely to be found on keychains…it’s a handy self-defense tool and less likely than pepper spray, knives, or guns to backfire and be used against you.
Bart Johnston, TSA’s Federal Security Director for 13 airports in Upstate New York, says, “Our officers are diligent in their duties and are good at spotting these weapons using the technologies at our checkpoints. I commend them for their continued vigilance and ask travelers to be equally diligent themselves and leave these items at home when packing for a flight. We come across these items daily and it slows down passengers who must stop and wait for our officers to remove the offending item and it backs up the line for the other travelers.”
But I suspect a lot of these pass through screenings undetected and the “urgent” TSA bulletin on these items may serve to further proliferate their appearance at airport security checkpoints.
In any case, now you’ve learned about a new weapon and that if you fail to smuggle it through, the worst that will happen is the TSA will throw it away…
image: TSA
Hell-no Kitty, lol.
Well, you learn about something new every day.
TSA is just doing their job and that’s ok. But they might as well be farting into the winds of a hurricane. There’s a much larger threat coming across our wide open borders that is going to rock our world some day just like 9/11 did. In retrospect it seems stupid to have set up Homeland Security after 9/11 only to years later not enforce our borders and let so many people from all corners of the world come walking in.
Oh geez not this nonsense.
I love my “cat eyes”. And I don’t need to get a license to carry