Occasionally a prospective airline passenger

jokingly indicates he has a bomb, gun, or knife on him or in his luggage. The seven Districts that have a policy on this agree that unless the passenger actually has a weapon, they will not prosecute these poor attempts at humor. 1/

(b) Weapon Seizures at Airports

Cases involving attempts to introduce weapons

or destructive devices aboard commercial aircraft are dealt with in various ways. In two Districts such matters are generally declined in favor of local prosecution or citation by FAA authorities. The guidelines of two Offices state

that there should be prosecutions when an individual has endeavored by obvious deliberate measures to preclude detection of a weapon on his person or in his carry-on

1/

One District does not want the FBI to present for prosecutive opinion cases wherein the individual is so intoxicated as to be not taken seriously.

baggage. If the individual in question is a non-law enforcement person but possesses a valid permit to carry a weapon, or if the individual has sufficient identification and no prior criminal record, these Offices will decline to prosecute. In one District, the policy is to defer to local prosecutors airport security violations involving no guns or other weapons. (c) On Craft Violations

All the Offices that have guidelines concerning

aircraft offenses have stated that they will not automatically decline to prosecute cases when an individual boards an aircraft with a weapon, or attempts to carry out or does carry out an actual hijacking. Because of the seriousness of hijacking offenses, as well as incidents involving the use of a deadly weapon to interfere with flight, the United States Attorneys' policy is to prosecute these cases vigorously. 2/

2/

As far as destruction of aircraft or motor vehicles is Concerned, one District has a blanket declination policy and approves of the FBI's policy of investigating cases only if the value of the destroyed property exceeds $500. See 18 U.S.C. Sections 32, 33.