
Ask HN: Why does the TSA still exist? - tothrowaway
I&#x27;m taking my first flight in over a decade. The thought of going through airport security makes me angry. The TSA is almost universally despised and ineffective, but continues to exist. Why?
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orangecat
_The TSA is almost universally despised_

Sadly this is not true: [http://news.gallup.com/poll/156491/americans-views-
tsa-posit...](http://news.gallup.com/poll/156491/americans-views-tsa-positive-
negative.aspx)

I generally agree with you, but any politician who advocates saner policies
would be walking directly into demagoguery like "you're willing to risk
terrorists killing our children so that rich businessmen can save a few
minutes".

------
Morieris
because we love bringing guns on planes.
[https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2018/01/29/tsa-year-review-
record-a...](https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2018/01/29/tsa-year-review-record-
amount-firearms-discovered-2017)

~~~
godot
Wow, this is eye-opening. The amount of guns and other weapons found by TSA is
insane. If this post wasn't on tsa.gov I would've thought it's a joke post.
How do this many people think they can get past TSA with all this?

~~~
stevekemp
Ironically the TSA regularly fail scheduled-tests. Where "actors"
intentionally try to sneak guns & knives through security..

------
WhiteSource1
The TSA is flawed, not unimportant.

It should be improved, not dismantled.

------
Bucephalus355
Because nearly 3,000 Americans died on September 11th, 2001.

I’m sorry to say this, and maybe you have unique and specific grievances I’m
not aware of, but your _anger_ seems like a gross entitlement of the kind
Silicon Valley has become used too.

~~~
smt88
I think your premise, that the TSA effectively prevents terrorist attacks, is
not a universal one[1][2][3].

Also, _lacking_ anger at the TSA may also be a sign of entitlement. For people
who look like Muslims, the TSA may be a source of fear and shame. Racial
profiling used to be more prevalent than people perhaps realize.

There are, of course, many other reasons to be angry, including sexual
assault, stolen items, and other TSA abuses. That's not even counting the
intrusive body scanners and other officially sanctioned activities.

1\. [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aclu-
tsa-20170207-stor...](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-aclu-
tsa-20170207-story.html)

2\. [https://www.vox.com/2016/5/17/11687014/tsa-against-
airport-s...](https://www.vox.com/2016/5/17/11687014/tsa-against-airport-
security)

3\. [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-
tsa...](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/the-tsa-doesnt-
work-and-maybe-it-doesnt-matter/394673/)

