The Transportation Security Administration’s plan to allow small knives onto passenger aircraft later this month has the backing of Rep. Matt Salmon.
And the Arizona Republican has urged his House colleagues to support the measure.
“Perfect security is impossible,” Salmon wrote in a “dear colleague” letter last week,
The Hill reports. “However, the limited resources of the TSA must be focused on the greatest threats and on the highest probability of preventing an attack.
“That is not achieved by continuing the ban of these minuscule knives, which are tools carried by millions of Americans,” Salmon said.
The congressman’s letter follows the reasoning of the TSA, which would allow knives in carry-on bags if they don't lock, have blades that are no longer than 2.36 inches, and are less than a half-inch wide, The Hill reports.
But the agency’s proposed policy prompted 133 members of the House last month to urge that the plan be reversed.
The change, they said, made no sense in light of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — in which hijackers used pocket knives to hijack aircrafts.
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