TSA and Body Piercings

A Texas woman was humiliated by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers when forced to remove the jewelry from her pierced nipples. The woman passed safely through the first round of metal detectors, but was selected for additional screening. She failed the additional screening, and she told the agents she had pierced nipples. The agents did not allow her to board her plane until the piercings were removed.

Although the woman offered to display her piercings to female TSA agents in a private screening room, her request was denied. The woman claims she could hear male TSA officers snickering while she removed her piercings.

Ironically, the woman was allowed to board her flight while still wearing her navel ring.

It goes without saying that few people like the TSA or flying in general. In the days before the government nationalized airline security, airlines were responsible for their own passenger screenings. I didn't fly much in those days, but what I do remember is that airport screening lines were much shorter and there was no such thing as color-coded terror warnings and "mandatory" check in times for flights. Of course, 9/11 changed all that.

The myth that the changes in airport screening policies are designed to keep us safer, and that a little inconvenience on the part of consumers is a small price to pay when personal safety is the trade-off, is a complete fallacy. If market forces were allowed to work, as they were in the days prior to 9/11, consumers would have much safer and more efficient traveling experiences. Like any other good in a market economy, airlines, although for the most part nationalized themselves, would compete to provide the best services at the lowest cost. The result? Satisfied consumers.

The government can't provide you safety, it can only provide inconvenience. If you need evidence of this, consider why seemingly no government funded TSA agent is ever fired for failing to fulfill his or her responsibility as a screener. In fact, the opposite is true: TSA incompetence is rewarded with increased funding year after year. Remember all those stories about items such as bombs, knives, guns, etc. going through TSA checkpoints without a problem?

The answer, of course, is to abolish the TSA and make airlines responsible for their own security. Absent government bureaucracy, air travel will not only become safer and more affordable, it will ensure embarrassing stories such as the above never go unpunished.