The TSA confiscated a sock monkey's gun. Apparently a St. Louis TSA agent found a stuffed animal's toy gun to be a threat to security.
"Rooster Monkburn" the cowboy sock monkey is without his pistol, thanks to a diligent TSA agent in St. Louis. Phyllis May of Redmond, Wash. told King5 that she was "appalled and shocked and embarrassed all at the same time" when the TSA stopped her at St. Louis on Dec. 3.
May is the owner of a small business in which she sells unique sock monkey dolls. In her bags, she had a few of the monkeys and some sewing applies as she traveled with her husband. One of the monkeys was "Rooster Monkburn," a play on John Wayne's character of "Rooster Cogburn" in the movie "True Grit." "His pistol was in there," May told King5. "Rooster Monkburn," a take-off on John Wayne character "Rooster Cogburn" from the film "True Grit."
May and her husband were passing through security when she noticed that one of her bags was missing.
"The (TSA agent) held it up and said 'whose is this?'" she said. "I realized oh, my God this is my bag."
The TSA agent went through May's bad with the sewing supplies and pulled out the two-inch long toy pistol from the monkey's holster. "She said 'this is a gun,'" said May. "I said no, it's not a gun it's a prop for my monkey." "She said 'If I held it up to your neck, you wouldn't know if it was real or not,' and I said 'really?'" May told King5.
The agent proceeded to tell May that she had to confiscate the gun and call the police. "I said well go ahead," said May. "And I said really? You're kidding me right, and she said no it looks like a gun. She took my monkey's gun," May said with a sense of humor.
"Rooster Monkburn has been disarmed so I'm sure everyone on the plane was safe," May told King5. "I understand she was doing her job but at some point doesn't common sense prevail?"
The agent never called police and May was given her sewing supplies back, but not the gun.
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