[malandrew]

correction: "Plastic firearms are [currently] "harmless" [in the grander scheme of things and in most cases]."

AFAIK all current designs can only fire one bullet before breaking, making them pretty useless for most situations where someone would want one. The only legitimate threat they currently pose is targeted assassinations, and those are a non-issue if you don't have enemies. If you do, invest in bodyguards and private security instead of externalizing your security costs to tax payers.

I think the most absurd thing is worrying about planes these days. Passengers pre-9-11 are completely different than passengers post-9-11. Passengers now know to revolt against any hijackers, especially if they meet the criteria of a hijacker that would use the plane as a flying bomb. In fact, that is exactly what happened with the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. As soon as one passenger discovered what happened at the Twin Towers via their cell phone, they tried to take over the plane and averted disaster.

Plus, all that was done in the time before wifi on board. Nowadays, many people on a plane are using wifi to browse the internet, send email and chat. All those people have access to communications outside the plane, whereas in 9-11 pretty much no one did (at least not legally)

[6d0debc071]

Heck, a repeat of 9-11 went out the door when they decided to lock the cockpit. Which, really, they should have done much earlier considering all the planes that were hijacked in the past and the previous attempt(s?) to use planes as weapons against buildings. I can think of at least one person who got as far as a plane, intending to have it flown into the White House, I believe, long before 9-11.

Really shoulda locked those doors....

[MichaelGG]

They still open them on many flights for the pilots to access the toilet.

[6d0debc071]

At least it reduces your vulnerability if you only unlock them for the few seconds it takes to step through for the toilet, I suppose. If they've some means to verify there's not a knife wielding maniac waiting outside the door the risk's probably minuscule.

Still. You'd think they'd have a toilet as part of the secure area on bigger planes - which I imagine is where most of the pilots who need to visit the men's room are. >_<

[lifeguard]

correction: Plastic firearms are useless and they always will be.

A plastic firearm is the same thing as holding a cartridge in a pair of pliers and hitting it with a rock.

Rifling in a plastic firearm that fires metal projectiles shows how stupid this exercise is. For rifling to spin a projectile, it must be harder than said projectile, and cut into it forcing it to spin. eg bullets are made of lead or copper and are fired through tempered steel.

The first liberator zip guns that the OSS dropped in France in the 40s were a psy op. They were never used to injure "the enemy".

Most armed government employees -- the presumed intended targets for these dangerous toys -- wear a spectra vest with a metal strike plate the makes plastic and wood projectiles harmless. I guess if one were to use a taser to disable an opponent, then they could hold one of these roman candles to the temple of their victim, and if the plastic gun didn't explode in the shooter's face it would seriously harm the victim.

A simple metal pipe, while not rifled, is vastly superior to plastic guns with one inch barrels because the propellant actually has a chance to burn and generate force. These plastic guns do not contain the force of the propellant and transfer it to the projectile.

These plastic gun affectionatos are an embarrassment to the intelligent readers of HN.