THESE HYSTERICAL TIMES

News of a delayed Auckland-Christchurch flight because a bloke tried to carry a rifle on a plane suggests a typical authorities over-reaction, delay-wise. Was it in his bags and exposed by the xray? We’re not told but not many bags will accommodate a rifle. But if in the hold then no issue so he must have been carrying it, somewhat naively for these hysterical times.

Here’s an amusing only-in-India incident I once had, carrying a rifle on a plane.

This occurred way back in 1971 when I flew from Afghanistan to Delhi where we stopped for a few days. In Afghanistan I had bought a 200 year old antique Afghani rifle. They’re highly ornamental with in-laid ivory on the butt and such-like. I bought it for my billiard room, where it is today.

It was about that time when the searching, xraying et al began at airports, driven initially by the hi-jacking of planes to Cuba by mis-guided nutters thinking the Castro hell-hole was Paradise.

Anyway, being lightly wrapped there was no way I would put my rifle in the hold where it could be damaged, so I carried it. The Afghanis couldn’t care less but when we came to leave Delhi I was body-searched. My girlfriend took a photo of me, legs apart, arms extended being patted down. The fact that I was plainly holding a rifle in one hand, was ignored. As I said, only in India!

Come to thinking of it I had another gun incident here in the 1990s when flying to Sydney. In my carry-on bags was a 300 year old musket for my Sydney home.

Plainly it was harmless unless I hit someone over the head with it, nevertheless the xray goose took it and gave it to the air-hostess to give to me in Sydney. Once in flight, the hostess, having more common-sense than the xray buffoon, returned it to me in case we both forgot.

No surprise though once back in Wellington to read a typical Dominion beat-up; “Jones in Airport Gun Incident”.