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TSA Considers Banning Books from Carry-On Luggage

By June 26, 2017News, Political, Reading Habits

First they came for your laptops, and no one spoke out and now they’re coming for the printed word as the TSA considers banning books and all printed materials from carry on luggage on flights. This would mean travellers would be forced to hand over their paperbacks at the start of each journey.

The laptop rule has been in a while now, forcing travellers to put their laptops into bins as they go through security, to be picked up at the other end. Now as an extra security measure, the TSA is trialling the removal of all paper literature, including books in the same way.

However, so far the trial isn’t going to plan and testing at Kansas City Airport had to be halted after a few days. Undeterred, the TSA is continuing trials. The American Civil Liberties Union has spoken out stating that there is ‘a long history of legal protection for privacy of one’s reading material in the United States’ and are urging the TSA to be trained in regard to privacy concerns should this go ahead.

Privacy concerns aside, having a book to read is about the only thing that makes long flights tolerable, and personally I couldn’t imagine travelling without them!

How do you feel about this, addicts? Do you think it’s justified, or a step too far? And what exactly will you be doing during your long flight this summer, if you’re not whiling it away with a chunky paperback.

Edit: While the news was reported yesterday as it was released in good faith it seems our headline is a little misleading. This wasn’t deliberate and did just follow the major news outlets at the time. While there are still privacy concerns regarding this rule, books are returned for the flight once checked through in the airport.



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14 Comments

  • Lynn (Australia) says:

    Sorry, but did the TSA give a reason for banning books? I cannot understand the logic behind such a decision – laptops possibly as detonators, but a book???

  • DVG says:

    While I don’t travel much,do not take my book from me!

  • Lynne Lowe says:

    Seriously? Just let them try taking my books away!

    • TMurphy says:

      And what, exactly, would you do if they tried? You have two options: comply so you can travel or refuse and be denied travel. Don’t be a keyboard warrior. If you don’t like something that is being implemented, actually join the fight for change.

  • Michele Blood says:

    This headline and story is misleading at best and patently false at worst. The TSA has not banned reading material, nor or they considering it. The TSA is, at some locations, requiring passengers to run reading material through the scanners separately. Once scanned, the reading material is returned to the traveler. The reading material isn’t given back “at the other end” of a flight. It’s given back at the end of the security line in the same way that your carry-on bags are returned after they’ve been scanned. In other words, passengers’ reading material is safe. The paperback you carry in your luggage you can also read on your flight.

  • Megan says:

    I think it’s ridiculous. If they want to search my books to make sure they are actual books, go for it but don’t ban them!!! They’re paper, not like you can take down a plane with them though could hurt if thrown at someone but still…. Please let us bookworms read!

  • Sherry says:

    This is offing ridiculous. How is a book going to be used as a weapon?

  • Daphne says:

    Don’t touch my books bitches. They are mine and you have no right to them.

  • Loretta says:

    We are in the end of days …..

  • Kelly Campbell says:

    What are they worried about? Papercuts?!

    • Cat says:

      You edited the article to point out that your headline is very misleading but failed to change the headline itself. I’m forced to conclude that this is clickbait.

      • Kath says:

        We can’t changed titles once they’ve been indexed by Google. We reported the same as all the major news outlets reported at the time of writing, I’m guessing we were the only ones to address and edit however.

  • Sidonee says:

    What’s the reasoning for this?
    Ill happily allow for my book to be checked for concealed things but dont see a need to take them away completely

  • Vicki says:

    Please edit this blog post and title.

    I’ve read several articles on this. There is NOTHING in the possible plan about “banning” books on airplanes. Nothing at all.

    It’s exactly like laptops. Into the bin for hand screening.

    “One reason for the new measures, reported by the Sacramento Bee news organisation, is that the move will free up space in full-to-bursting carry-on bags so that x-ray machines will be able to better see what is in bags.”

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