Thompson pushing TSA for answers concerning armed officers on flights

The Clarion-Ledger, 2/5/8

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson has given the Transportation Security Administration two weeks to report to his committee what the agency is doing to make sure air passengers claiming to be police officers are positively identified before they are allowed to bring their guns aboard.

In a Feb. 1 letter to TSA Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley, Mississippi’s Democratic 2nd District congressman asked for a progress report on the creation of a high-tech verification process for passengers seeking to fly armed, including a timeline for completion of the system. Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, gave Hawley until Feb. 18 to answer his questions. The congressionally established deadline is less than a year away.