A teacher passing through security at Tampa’s (FL) airport was arrested when screeners pronounced that the weighted bookmark she carried a concealed weapon.
Airport police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old special education teacher was handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
The woman was released and no charges will be filed. More here.
Blackjack
There is a weapon called a blackjack that looks a lot like the weighted bookmark. A picture of one of the weighted bookmarks can be found here. A friend of mine who was a police officer had a blackjack. It looked suprisingly like one of the weighted bookmarks.
Blackjack definition from the dictionary:a hand weapon typically consisting of a piece of leather-enclosed metal with a strap or springy shaft for a handle
another definition
To hit or beat with a leather-covered bludgeon.
What is a weighted bookmark? A leather covered bludgeon.
Re:Blackjack
The last blackjack I saw was one that was about an inch thick at its thinnest point, probably close to 2 at its thickest.
Re:Blackjack
I sure feel safer with this kind of security!
Re:Blackjack
I wouldn’t carry one of those weighted bookmarks on an airplane just because I try to carry the least amount of weight possible. Because I’m kind of a wimp.
Other than that, I guess I can see why someone might think it was a weapon. It’s still stupid that she got arrested, though. Airline security people need to become more aware of commonly-used items such as these–and add them to the list of things you can’t bring on board, if necessary. Then they can take the offending item away and let the passenger move on.
Re:Blackjack
I’m sorry, but weighted bookmarks are most definitely not “commonly-used items”. They’re not even very common within libraries.
Re:Blackjack
They are used in special collections, right? To hold books open without putting too much weight on them?
Other librarian implements of destruction
Before I bobbed my hippie/librarian hair, I frequently wore it in a bun, which I secured with a wooden chopstick-like pick (known in my house as a hair stabber), and I was surprised everytime I got through security with one of these things–even when the pick was examined. I imagine you could so as much damage with a hair stabber as with a weighted bookmark. Go figure. It’s a non-issue now, since I only have enough hair to pull into a silly, truncated pigtail these days.
In the event of a hijacking…
everything becomes a weapon. If someone hijacks an aircraft on which I am a passenger I am going to try to kill them with everything possible. My tray table will not remain in the upright position, in fact it will remain in the I am going to drive the edge of it into your eye socket position.
Re:Blackjack
Well, they sell plenty of them at large bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble. My husband has one. But you’re right–they’re not as common as, say, nail clippers. And I wouldn’t want to be hit with one. Ouch!