If there's one thing you need to know about me for this story, it's that I carry EVERYTHING in my purse. You name it, I've got it in there! My fiance tells me constantly that I need to clean it out. Here's a time when I should've listened to him.
Back to the story...
It was a very quiet day at the Milwaukee airport. No one was in line. Getting through security seemed like a breeze. That's when it started. Several TSA agents staring and pointing at the screen as my bag is going through. Then a woman grabs the tote with my purse in it and walks towards the area where they go through your bag with a fine-toothed comb.
Acting rather frazzled she asks me if there's anything in my purse they need to know about. I said, "Not that I'm aware of." She starts wiping my purse down and testing whatever. Then she begins digging through all the contents in my purse. Of course there's lotion and other things that probably belong in a TSA approved quart size bag. That's what I thought the problem was. Then all of sudden, she finds my flashlight - which is also a stun gun!
After this find she starts breathing heavy and getting more agitated. She tells me that I'm not allowed to have it and that it's a huge violation. She calls over more TSA agents. They start questioning me. They ask for my ID, my boarding pass, my address, phone number and why do I have a stun gun in my purse. I told them I've had it in there for months and that I've traveled to 3 or 4 places with it in my purse and no one ever said anything. At this point they tell me that they need to call the sheriff's department.
Now we have about 4 TSA agents still going through my purse and 2 sheriff's deputies questioning me and getting my info. The agents are still pointing at the screen as if they haven't found what they're looking for. My fiance walks around to see what they're looking at and says, "Babe it looks like you have a gun in your purse!" They yell at him to get back around the counter and proceed to take out EVERY SINGLE ITEM in my purse. FINALLY they find what they're looking for! It's my spare house key in the shape of a gun.
At this point I think we're good to go. NOPE! Since I have have a stun gun I need to go to the sheriff's office. Now I'm really freaking out! As we're walking to the sheriff's office they tell me stun guns are illegal in the state of Wisconsin and that it might be a felony and that it's a concealed weapon.
We get to the office and I'm introduced to a man that is the head of TSA in Milwaukee. He starts asking me what I do for a living and where have I been with that stun gun in my purse. A deputy then asks me if I've ever been arrested before. Like a scared kid that's in the principal's office, I calmly say, "No, I've never been in any kind of trouble." Another deputy asks me if I have a concealed carry license. I said no and ironically I was just looking up classes to take the other day.
Now I'm sitting there wondering how I got in this situation. Here I am in the sheriff's office with the words arrested, felony, concealed weapon, and jail being tossed around. I'm starting to feel nauseous.
After waiting around and various people getting all my information, one deputy tells me what is going to happen to me. Finally! He says that they are going to give me citation and that I need to pay it today or I can't leave, and if I can't pay it they'll take me to jail. Of course I'll pay it, but then I wonder is this going to be thousands of dollars? I ask how much it will be. They pull out a paper that gives them the various things they can cite me for. They agree on the"Carrying Concealed Weapon" violation which has a $484 fine. I gladly hand over my credit card to avoid getting arrested.
They told me that I won't be getting my stun gun back because TSA is now using it as a training tool, but the plus side is I wasn't arrested or charged with a felony. Thank sweet baby Jesus!
I just think it's crazy that this all started because they saw my tiny house key in the shape of gun and if they didn't see that in the x-ray they never would've found my stun-gun. They were lucky to have found it. Oh well.
I've learned my lesson. Clean out my purse before I go to the airport.
