A California man though he would be able to get a gun through airport security by wrapping it in aluminum foil. However the misconception once again proved false and the man was arrested.
According to court documents found by The Smoking Gun, Transportation Security Administration agents at a San Francisco airport busted Kerry Lee Bobo of Atwater, California. The 53-year-old man thought he could get through security by concealing his Sig Sauer .45-caliber handgun in the wrapper that is commonly used for leftovers.
Bobo was trying to get on a KLM flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam on Thursday when he was caught with the weapon, the federal complaint says.
Bobo said that Amsterdam wasn't his last stop. He told officials that he was going on to Nairobi from Amsterdam and he needed the weapon "to protect himself from animals while in Kenya."
The man didn't want security to take his weapon so he wrapped it in foil to "thwart airport baggage personnel from stealing it." However the TSA were able to spot the weapon in his checked luggage. He also had a Taser in his luggage. The agents boarded Bobo's flight and escorted him off of the plane.
There is a misconception that aluminum foil can fool security screeners. According to a Homeland Security agent, Bobo isn't the first traveler to try to wrap something in foil to hide it.
"I know that some people believe - incorrectly - that aluminum foil can somehow block X-ray and other security screening devices," the Homeland Security agent said in the complaint.
The man was charged with allegedly trying to bring a loaded firearm on to an aircraft. He could face up to 10 years in prison for the incident, but he posted $50,000 unsecured bond and was released on Friday. He is scheduled for a hearing at the end of the month.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
