'Loaded' Mickey Mouse doll trips airport security

GlobalPost

A little boy and his Mickey Mouse doll were apparently fodder for a domestic dispute after airport screeners found gun parts and bullets stuffed inside toys, CBS News said today.

The 4-year-old and his dad attempted to board an airplane Monday in Rhode Island when Transportation Security Administration screeners noticed something suspicious in the boy’s carry-on bags.

Inside three stuffed animals were the frame of a .40-caliber pistol, magazine with two .40-caliber rounds, a firing pin and a slide.

The TSA officers called airport police.

“We believe this was related to an ongoing domestic dispute,” Lt. David Shinskey told CBS.

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Police allowed the father and son to proceed on their trip to Detroit, CNN said.

The boy was also carrying a stuffed rabbit and bear.

“This is just another example that threats can appear anywhere, and this is why TSA officers take a closer look at everything,” an agency news release said, according to CNN. “It’s also an example that shows that even though TSA has modified the screening process for children 12 and under, the security process is still just as effective.”

Monday’s discovery comes as the TSA faces scrutiny from politicians, Bloomberg News reported.

A House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Rep. John Mica (R—Fla.) hold a fourth hearing on TSA practices Wednesday.

The TSA is trying to save face after police arrested screeners in Los Angeles for accepting bribes from drug dealers.

In January, someone managed to smuggle a loaded gun onto an American Airlines flight in Dallas.

“It’s almost every week,” Mica told Bloomberg. “We’ve had another drug ring. We’ve had smuggling. We’ve had them stealing out of people’s luggage.”

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