The recent news that the Transportation Safety Administration is planning to lift its small knife restriction on planes is not going over well with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY.
Gillibrand released a statement Tuesday saying that allowing knives back onto passenger planes was an unnecessary risk.
“I am deeply concerned this decision could put the safety of passengers and flight attendants at risk,” Gillibrand said. “Allowing potentially dangerous weapons anywhere near a plane simply does not make sense. As we’ve repeatedly seen, New York is the number one target for terrorists around the world who want to harm Americans. We must remain vigilant in guarding against attacks and protect New York and our nation.”
Both New York Sens. Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, D-NY, have come out against lifting the ban, saying the TSA has not adequately proven that it can safeguard the lives of airline passengers against would-be attackers.
A recent CNN article quoted Schumer as saying that knives are still a danger to those in the air.
Gillibrand also said that the TSA still needs to work on passenger safety, given the news last week that Newark Airport security agents allowed a fake bomb to get through two layers of security.
