Like a geriatric Alex from A Clockwork Orange or some Bob Dylan character sprung to life, an 80-year-old woman from South Carolina was busted by TSA at Myrtle Beach International Airport on Thursday for trying to take a cane with a hidden sword onto her flight, local NBC affiliate WYFF reports.
Ultimately, the whole thing appears to be a mistake, rather than some kind of foiled assassination attempt or whatever. According to TSA spokesman Mark Howell, the woman said she had no idea that the cane even had a secret blade stashed inside, which apparently isn’t that uncommon. Howell says people buy canes at Goodwill or other thrift stores all the time without realizing that they contain secret concealed sabers.
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It might comfort you to know that airport security confiscates tons of weird weapons or things that look like weapons (like gold hand grenades) all the time—the best of which wind up on the agency’s popular Instagram account. That being said, there’s always room for improvement.
According to the Myrtle Beach Sun, the woman had to give up her concealed weapon, which as it turns out was a gift from her son, in order to make her flight on time. Which, to be honest, seems a little odd considering it’s pretty easy to bring an army of taloned falcons onboard on an aircraft.
