Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on May 22, 2001, to prohibit and provide penalties for possessing or carrying in the sterile area of any commercial airport a firearm; an explosive; a knife with a blade of any length; a razor, box cutter, or item with a similar blade; or a dangerous weapon. The bill would make attempting to place or carry on board an airplane one of the prohibited items a felony offence punishable by up to ten years in prison

The vote was 34 in favor, 0 opposed and 3 not voting

(Senate Roll Call 321 at Senate Journal 66)

Click here to view bill details.

As a result of 19 terrorists using box cutters to overtake crews of four airliners on September 11, 2001, our leaders in Lansing and Washington have taken the firm and resounding step to ban my Kelloggs commemorative money clip with a fingernail file that folds out of one side and a 1 1/2" knife that folds out of the other.

Way to go guys and gals. You really got em on the run now!

The rule of outlawing and carrying or attempting to carry some of these items is totally asinine, and the penalty for doing so can only be compared to what goes on in totalitarian states. It shows where legislators have their heads when these bills are proposed.

I regularly carry and am rarely without, even with nothing else in my pocket, a knife of some kind, from a very small pen knife to a larger electricians knife or one with a slightly longer blade than that, depending on which I choose that day and for what purpose. Never would I consider using one to attack, maim or kill, though with the publicity of closed-end plane hijackings, perhaps it would come in handy as a defensive weapon some day. IMO, friends, acquaintances, and others in the legislature, you have shot - er - stabbed yourselves in the foot. Congratulations!

James M Kliemann

Senator Dingells amendment to reduce the penalty (a ten year felony for carrying a pocket knife or - and this is unbelievable - an UNDEFINED "DANGEROUS WEAPON!") should have passed unanimously.

Shades of Nazi Germany, which never passed anything quite like this.

Anyone who would oppose this bill I must ask: Why do you hate America so much?!

How can you call our legislators nazis when they're just trying to protect us from evil terrorists? Anyone stupid enough to carry a weapon, whether its a box cutter, a penknife, or any other metallic object, in an aiport deserves what they get!

Don't you know we're at war???

Yep, this law got me... I was on vacation in Michigan, camping on lake Michigan, and while returning home I was absentminded and unaware of a pocket knife that I had in my pocket. Read the rest of the story here: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=143735

Terrorists will always be able to get onto planes and take them over. If they can do it with crappy weapons like box cutters, they can do it with anything. It doesn't matter how many items are banned, they will still be able to take them over. It has nothing to do with what weapons they have, and everything to do with how they present themselves.

Look, anyone should be able to defend themselves from a box cutter. They're very small. So why does it seem so dangerous when a terrorist holds it? Because terrorists are very good at taking control, being loud and demanding. That is their real strength. No legislation will ever stop terrorism.

I don't remember Congress declaring war...