Free Talk Live

A Florida firefighter says he couldn't believe it when Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents gave "intrusive" pat-downs to passengers including kids getting off an Amtrak train in Savannah, Georgia earlier this month.

Reversing a near decade-long ban, Amtrak will allow passengers to bring guns on most trains starting next month. The change, pushed by gun-rights advocates and ordered by Congress, aligns Amtrak’s firearm policy with air travel rules that allow unloaded guns to be stored in locked baggage holds. Federal Homeland Security officials on Monday said they are OK with guns being on trains as long as security protocols are enforced. "It’s deemed safe and appropriate," federal Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez said. "If people follow the rules, it’s pretty simple."

This is from 2008, but still relevant. Small town in Mississippi gets a $845,000 grant from the Feds to build an AMTRAK station.The town is a flag stop, so the train doesn't even stop there regularly, and AMTRAK provides no services at the station. It is basically just a nearly $1 million dollar rain shelter. Insane.....the free market would never waste money like this.

Even more proof that it will be regular people who prevent bad things from happening, not the government --

from KVDR Denver:

"LA JUNTA, Colo. - Police in southern Colorado arrested a New Jersey man for allegedly threatening to blow up an Amtrak passenger train.

Focused on enhancing security at MARC commuter rail stations, the Maryland Transit Administration police in partnership with security and canine teams from the Maryland Transportation Authority and the Transit Security Administration will begin random security screenings at stations beginning October 30, 2009.

This search happened AFTER a train ride. Are American citizens now being searched before they can leave train stations?

New York US Senator Charles Shumer calls for Amtrak "do-not-ride" list.

It looks like the TSA finally caught on to how much Americans enjoy having their genitals fondled: the US Transportation and Security Administration wants to start charging airline passengers double on screening fees.

To the list of instructions you hear at airport checkpoints, add this: "Put your palms forward, please."
The Transportation Security Administration soon will begin randomly swabbing passengers' hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.