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Irony is clearly not dead. On the one hand, we travelers are perpetually being told about all the restrictions that are in place to protect us. We take off our shoes. We pull the laptop out of its case. We toss out the beverage. We have our stuff searched and scanned. And even though a lack of identification never blew up a plane, we’re required to show the TSA our papers.

We’re told that the TSA is there to protect us. Their dapper new uniforms, first modeled last year, but recently rolled out in airports across America, are designed to make them look like real cops, to make us feel safer. (Real cops, on the other hand, aren’t happy with the new outfits.) Again, you’re being sold the feeling of safety.

But now, a gun rights group is taking advantage of a recent decision by Georgia’s state legislature to relax the restrictions on concealed weapons by suing the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport in an effort to allow licensed citizens to pack heat in the airport. Does that make anyone other than the gun-carrier feel safe?

A Georgia gun rights group filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Atlanta on Tuesday after airport officials said they would continue to enforce a ban on concealed weapons in the terminal despite the changes to the state law. The changes, which were approved by the Georgia legislature in the spring and took effect on Tuesday, relax the state’s prohibition on carrying weapons on public transportation and in some other areas, including restaurants serving alcohol.

Benjamin R. DeCosta, the airport director, said the changes applied only to public transportation like buses and the city subway and were not intended to allow people to carry guns at the airport. He said allowing civilians to carry concealed weapons in the terminal, which serves millions of travelers each year, would pose severe problems for the police and airport security workers.

Not to mention that it would undermine the entire TSA security apparatus and all it stands for. And while I am no fan of the TSA, I’m less of a fan of walking around public spaces surrounded by people carrying loaded firearms.

“Only in America,” European readers are muttering right now, as they rebook their flights to avoid changing planes in Atlanta.

Related:
- Packing heat: Ensure your checked luggage arrives safely by packing firearms
- Feeling safe? Armed pilot discharges pistol in cockpit

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