Student concerns are rising as the Transportation Security Administration’s new knife policy allows small knives on airplanes, effective April 25.
The blade of the knife must be 2.36 inches or shorter, about the size of a switchblade, and less than a half-inch wide. They will be allowed in airline cabins as long as the blade is not fixed or does not lock into place.
Sophomore mass communication major Tiara Chapman firmly disagrees with the policy.
“I don’t think that is smart. It makes you wonder what the point of airport security is, because the knives can still stab people even if they are small. What in the world were they thinking with this policy?” said Chapman.
TSA chief John Pistole defended his decision to let passengers carry small knives back on flights in a recent statement.
“These are not things that terrorists are continuing to use,” he said.
Pistole felt that TSA officers should put their focus more on non-metal explosives that pose a bigger threat to airplane security, rather than small pocketknives.
However, Robneisha Armstrong, a junior undecided major sees the pocketknives as a threat to safety on airplanes.
“Anything can happen with a knife. If a person does not like an American citizen he or she could stab him right then and there. I understand that we are recovering from the disaster that happened Sept. 11, but we don’t have to make stupid decisions and get reckless. There are still some threats out there,” she said.
Heather Hayes, a criminal justice major believes the new policy will factor in the growth of more terrorist threats on airplanes.
“Terrorists will take any chance they get to do harm against this country. It’s like they are giving them free reign to do it,” said Hayes.