The Daily Courier (Kelowna, British Columbia) reports:
A pendant in the shape of an antique Colt 45 pistol almost landed Marnina Norys in the hoosegow on Monday.
The 39-year-old Toronto resident was caught by alert Kelowna Airport security wearing the 1.75-inch sterling silver pendant on a chain around her neck.
“That‘s a replica,” an unidentified security agent told the harried traveller as if she would understand that replica weapons, even miniaturized pieces of jewelry, are not allowed.
Her jewelry posed no threat, responded Norys, and could hardly be used to hijack an airplane. “It‘s what it represents,” said the agent.
“That‘s censorship, not security,” an incredulous Norys said before she was told she would have to put the necklace in her checked baggage.
For a photo of the pendant, see here.
Likewise, see this BBC story, which also includes a photo (thanks to for the pointer):
A man wearing a T-shirt depicting a cartoon character holding a gun was stopped from boarding a flight by the security at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Brad Jayakody, from Bayswater, central London, said he was “stumped” at the objection to his Transformers T-shirt.
Mr Jayakody said he had to change before boarding as security officers objected to the gun, held by the cartoon character.
Airport operator BAA said it was investigating the incident….
Mr Jayakody said he had to strip and change his T-shirt there before he was allowed to board his flight.
“I was just looking for someone with a bit of common sense,” he said.
“It’s a cartoon robot – what threat is it to security or offensive to anyone at all?”
Not quite as nasty as the incident in 2006 in which an Iraqi-American man was apparently ordered to remove a T-shirt with Arabic script on it, but pretty bad nonetheless, if the stories are accurate.