The No Fly List

[RP#62]

I've heard seemingly intelligent people lately agreeing that if you are on the no fly list, you shouldn't be allowed to buy a gun.  They even have a catchy slogan  No Fly, No Buy.

Let me tell you about the no fly list.  I'm a career airline employee in the maintenance and engineering division.  In one of my past positions, I had to fly to DC a lot to meet with FAA headquarters folks.  On one trip, I go to the airport, put my card into the kiosk and instead of a boarding pass, I get a message saying that I need to go to the ticket counter.

I go to the ticket counter, give my info the agent, he keys it in to his computer and says, I'll need to call my manager.  I said is there a problem.  He said no, just a security thing. The manager comes, looks at the screen, makes a few entries and gives me a boarding pass.  Didn't think too much of it at the time, just thought it was some new procedure.

On the return flight, I had some time to kill at the airport so I went to up to the special services desk and told the agent what happened earlier and he said let me have a look.  He keyed my info in and said Oh.  I said what.  He said I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you're on the no fly list.  I said how do I get off.  He said call corporate security.

When I got back to the office, I called corporate security.  They said no problem, that they would put me on the accelerated clear list.  I said great, so I'll come off the no fly list?  They said oh no.  The TSA controls that list, only they can take you off.  They said go to the TSA web site and it tells you what to do.

On the TSA web site it explains that if you are on a watch list and you don't think you should be, you can submit three forms of ID and pay a fee and wait an indeterminate amount of time for a background check and they you put you on their accelerated clear list.  But you will not be removed from the no fly list.  Evidently, once you are on the no fly list, you don't come off until TSA decides to take you off. 

I was trying to figure out why I got added to the list.  I called a colleague who had the same name as me but with a different middle initial whom I knew also traveled a lot and before I could even say anything, he said are you having trouble flying?  Turns out he was on the list too.  The only thing we could figure is that somewhere, there must have been an Irish terrorist that they were concerned about, so they put everyone with that name (regardless of middle initial) on the no fly list.

Once on it, you have no recourse, no appeal.  You are added to the list by some unknown unaccountable bureaucrat based on some secret criteria and you only come off when they decide you come off.

To highlight the lunacy of this, at the time I was on the no fly list, I had an AOA badge with customs clearance.  That meant that at the airport I was working, I had full access to the ramp and could could be working on international arrival aircraft before they were cleared by customs.

Now, tell me how great of an idea No Fly No buy is.  This is like saying its common sense legislation - it won't limit your rights, it just makes it so that someone from the government can arbitrarily decide that you are not worthy of your rights under the constitution until they say you are.

-RP

[..]

First hand knowledge?
First hand knowledge!
We done need no first hand knowledge.

[Serk]

Thank you for your first hand story...

And for someone else who had this happen to them:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17073-2004Aug19.html

[John Schmidt]

Wow! I had an acquaintance a few years back with the same issue, took a long time to get cleared up. Here's the kicker....she(yes...she, dated a couple times before I met my wife) had a top secret clearance and worked for the feds in some capacity, never would say in what.

[MP]

This is EXACTLY the problem the Dummycrats REFUSE to consider.

They seem to think EVERYONE on the no fly list is a Terrorist, or, if not, one just has to tell them, and you are taken off.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Jess from VA]

So, someone tell me the difference between this and the Gestapo/SA/SD/SS?

We've even got FEMA camps ready.    Have not heard about any direct rail lines or ovens..... yet.


 

[BF]

So, someone tell me the difference between this and the Gestapo/SA/SD/SS?

We've even got FEMA camps ready.    Have not heard about any direct rail lines or ovens..... yet.


 

You know what FEMA spelled backwards means don't cha?  America's Mass Extermination Facilities.   

[art]

It's slippery slope to total gov.control. We are losing our freedom bit by bit.

[Serk]

It's slippery slope to total gov.control. We are losing our freedom bit by bit.

Sadly, we're not losing it.

We're standing up and demanding it be taken away.

 

[Daycruiser]

Thank you for the first hand account of your "NO-FLY" experience.  This is the kind of story you should be sharing with the media for a wide dissemination.

[Roadog]

It's slippery slope to total gov.control. We are losing our freedom bit by bit.

drip,...drip,...drip,...chip,...chip,...chip,...bit by bit,...bit by bit,...bit by bit,...
Absolutely true....gun control has very little to do with guns and everything to do with control.  Buy ammo while you can.  Will this post put me on that No Fly list (NFL) . 


Roadog