Bag with gun shape

MAKE: blogger Phil Torrone was spotted at O'Reilly's Emerging Technology Conference today carrying this handsome Guardian Angel bag by Vlieger & Vandam. It's Phil's carry-on. Fortunately, he made it through security with enough time to catch his flight. Vlieger & Vandam also offers a smaller bag that features a knife form.
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David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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tanner

I hate when the ads come into the content.
Lauren O

This is just…it’s just dumb. It’s just a bad idea. Why would you do this?
kjs3

Hey, let’s poke the bear in the eye with a stick and squeal when we get mauled.
Sam

Is that a walther p22?
anthony

Since the last BB post about handguns, a man killed five college students and then himself in Dekalb with his cool gun, and somebody killed a bunch of middle school kids in LA with his awesome piece, while shooting at gang rivals. Those two stick out for me, but there were others.
Cpt. Tim

it could be, how far can you slide the ironsights back on the p22?
snackcake

too bad that link goes to Microsoft’s map – if it were Google, maybe we could get a street view of some douche getting frisked.
thomashorne

Does anyone else look at this and say, “the very existence of a bag like this just shows how very sheltered we are”?
Takuan

Nope, but it does make me wonder if NRA members should be taken aside for extra screening.
unlinl

Well, I have this bag, and twice took flights from Moscow to Berlin and back with it as my hand luggage. Only on my 4th (!!!) flight those security guys in Berlin airport decided not to let me in with it and I had to register it as luggage (as registration was over, they had to reopen it for me for a minute to do that). Maybe it’s more strict in US, will check this out in April)
anthropomorphictoast

That’s…just a bad idea. An EXPENSIVE bad idea. Possibly one that would get you thrown to the ground on some places. >_>
dculberson

Cpt. Tim: “confiscated a congressional medal of honor from a WWII vet because it was pointy”

Woah!! Really!? If I was that guy, I would have missed my flight. There’s very little I can think of that would be worth losing that medal for.
cwl

Thomashorne, my thoughts exactly.
anthony

Excuse, the middle school kids were critically injured, but from the article I just read, did not die from their gunshot wounds.
Takuan

it’s just a piece of tin. Mustn’t confuse the representation with the meaning. Besides, what could be more fitting than someone surrendering a medal obstensibly got fighting for freedom to a bunch of oblivious simians?
scissorfighter

You know, I really feel bad about wishing this fate on anybody, but if Phil Torrone were to end up on the wrong side of a Taser for carrying this bag though the airport, I’d say he deserved it.

“Smug asshole” is the only thing I can think of to describe anyone who would intentionally use this as carry-on baggage. It’s not cool, it’s not hip, it’s not “in your face.” It’s egotistical vanity. And it doesn’t take “cajones” to carry a bag like this into an airport, it takes stupidity. Not necessarily because a TSA agent would find this bag cause for concern, but because the blatant attempt at generating a trend-setting, hip outlaw image for yourself in reality makes you look like a fool.
Takuan

maybe he just likes bags with pictures of guns
Cefeida

They probably gave him an option to have it shipped home or something.

The bag is idiotic. Way to scare people- not just at the airport, but wherever you go. Scare, and provoke.
help i cant comfirm my username themelonbread

@ se7a7n7: It wasn’t a t-shirt that looked like it had a bomb, it was a hoodie with an LED display. Bostonians are just afraid of colored lights.
Takuan

whenever I travel, I always have thumb-knives made of stiff, serrated,razor edge plastic concealed in the starched lapels of my clothing. That way I look dapper and ready to cut throats. A tip of the beret to the good old OSS.
tikal2k

#55:

Of course it really isn’t what a concealed handgun in a bag looks like any more than a transformed Megatron looks like a Walther P38, but the intent behind the design of that bag IS to provoke someone to think, “Whoa, is that a gun in there?”

So, let’s take the combined elements of a cop who’s first reaction is “Is that a gun in a bag?”, a panic situation, poor lighting conditions, and you reaching into the bag, you just might end up getting shot.

All in all a rather hysterical way of committing Suicide By Cop (although going up to the same police officer while holding a toy gun and making threatening gestures might be a couple hundred bucks cheaper).
RussNelson

Why r y mrns bsssng n gn rprsnttns, whn gdgts (prtclrly prttyps) hv grtr ffct n scrty scrnrs?
Antinous

It just shows the distance and obliviousness these smug turds have from people who are actually at risk of being killed

I wonder how many people who wear gun imagery have ever had one pointed at them.
The Lizardman

Whenever I see an ‘asking for trouble’ comment I start thinking about girls in short skirts – not because the comments turn me on but because they remind me of the old rape and wardrobe nonsense arguments. Its not a perfect analogy I know so save yourself the trouble of deconstructing it because it is just what comes to my mind.

At the end of the day, security should be able to quickly and easily discern things like this from real threats and handle them with politeness and professionalism. If I want to take my faux gun impression bag to the airport the problem isn’t me but rather that we have a system that can’t handle this. If a delay is caused don’t misdirect your anger at the person with the bag, focus on the real problem which is the ineptitude of the security then take your outrage and use it positively by taking action(s) to improve the the security
arkizzle

I think there’s a whole lot of over-reacting going on.

As far as a fashion item, it’s fairly akin to a tshirt with a picture of a glock emblazoned on it or a cowboy style belt-buckle with a revolver stamped onto it (whatever your opinion on weapon motifs in general). It doesn’t look remotely real enough to worry anybody but the most highly-strung terror spotter. It may catch the eye, but really, thats it.

I don’t know if anyone is advising it to be flaunted around the (already pedantic) TSA folk, but you may say the same for the gun-print shirt, or mentioning certain words like “bomb” or “gun” in an airport vicinity. And how much of your life is spent in airports anyway?

Besides all that, the rest of the world is not America, and mostly we are not doing our best to see fear in every strangeness. I don’t think you’d get a second glance (other than out of curiosity) anywhere else in the world, even in London, which has suffered infinitely more terrorism than the US.

So to say this is an outright bad idea, just because your having a mid-empire terror panic, is a little small-scope for me.
Agent 86

The ONLY thins I see wrong with this bag is the price. The image is not the thing, folks, and even if it was – do you not remember that you could carry REAL GUNS on planes for years without hassle? Guns don’t kill people, little bits of metal in front of tightly packed explosive powders do.
ill lich

I dunno. . . just seems like “shouting FIRE in a crowded theater” to me.
Ryan

I love it.

What a way to not roll over for security insanity.
RB98122

Ahh yes, another thing to show the stupidity of our governments and far too many citizens. OMG its a gun, run, be afraid, ahhhh, is he a terrorist.

Again, one word, STUPIDITY. Anyone with more then one brain cell is two things,

one, smart enough to realize this is not a gun and its funny,
two, not employable by the US or local government including TSA, FBI, CIA and as a cop

Lets all live in paranoia in the long lines of the TSA at the airports. OMG breast milk, shoot her, she has more then 3 ounces of it!! OMG, that blue stuff, its not shampoo, its a BOMB. OMG thats not a fingernail file, its a deadly weapon!!!!

Anyone who thinks this bag should be taken with more then a grain of salt is AN IDIOT who is paranoid and can’t figure out that the terrorists already won. They have the USA and most English speaking countries scared stupid. People are afraid of each other, people they have never met (and likely will never meet) and things that haven’t nor never will happen.

WAKE UP PEOPLE, WAKE UP.
arkizzle

KJS3

But it doesn’t look like a gun in a bag. It looks (as you said) like a bag with a 3d gun-shape embossed on it.

Indeed, the first (corner of your eye) reaction may be: “is that a gun in a bag?”.
But that’s very quickly followed by your second reaction of: “oh no, it clearly isn’t”.

If you think this is what a gun in a bag actually looks like, then “sorry, you’re irredeemably st00pid“.
Rick.

That thing is expensive! Can’t wait for the inevitable Chinese rip-off for 20 bucks.

Also, if anyone thinks that having a huge imprint of a gun on the outside of your bag means you have a gun in your bag, then this country’s more retarded than I imagined. This isn’t a cartoon, for chrissakes.
jlbraun

Lks lk Wlthr P99 Cmpct. Gd gn, bt prfr Glck 19 n 9mm.

f crs, ths flmng lbrl Dmcrt prfrs NT t dvrts th fct tht h’s crryng gn (t cn ffnd th dlct snsblts f ths rnd m).
the_boy

@ #8 – best comment on the post. Makes me wonder about the Airport scene in Spinal Tap, and how the modern TSA would deal with it.
Takuan

“Why did ya wrap it in foil??”

I still like the idea of carrying your carkeys up your butt. (“What? Those are my keys.”)
angryhippo

#26: “At the end of the day, security should be able to quickly and easily discern things like this from real threats”

So true, so true. But remember the parable about the fox and the scorpion. You can’t be surprised when the scorpion stings you. TSA is as TSA does until it is gutting from the inside. Carrying something like this qualifies one as a Douche of the highest order and the people caught behind them in the held-up security lines should be able to apply a beatdown.
arkizzle

#32

I would be more inclined to cast the TSA as the fox in this debacle, continually harranguing innocent citizens.
As you say: they should not be surprised when the citizens start to push back.
Cpt. Tim

“As far as a fashion item, it’s fairly akin to a tshirt with a picture of a glock emblazoned on it or a cowboy style belt-buckle with a revolver stamped onto it”

and that’s really why its dumb to take it on a flight. Yes, its stupid that you’d have to worry about a gun belt buckle (all my poor gun belt buckle) but the point is you do.

My preflight checklist is “would a TSA agent be dumb or cranky enough to think anything i’m carrying is a weapon?”
kjs3

It’s not a “picture” of a gun. It’s not a tee shirt with a picture of a gun. It’s a 3d impression of the outline of a gun specifically intended to make someones initial response be “Is there a gun in that bag? Sure looks like it.”. It’s intended to provoke a reaction. If you can’t understand that and understand why that’s a bad thing in many contexts, then, sorry, you’re irredeemably st00pid.
Takuan

try carrying a child’s stick drawing of a gun on next time
Lord Humongous

220 Euro. Doesn’t leave much left over for legal fees after the TSA has its way with you
twig

I wish I had the guts to carry something like that, but I can only imagine the hassles.
Nick CT

That’s is the stupidest thing I have seen in a long time.
freshyill

Nothing screams “asshole” like the person who intentionally holds up the security line with something stupid like this.
Cpt. Tim

It’s a cool bag, but as it is a cool bag, its a foolish thing to bring with you to an airport. It’s the kind of thing that will be taken from you never to be seen again, just for the bullshit fun of it.

remember, airport security is handled by people who took away a kids inch long GI Joe gun because its a replica weapon. These are the same guys who confiscated a congressional medal of honor from a WWII vet because it was pointy, and the same guys who confiscated my completely 2D gun belt buckle.
arkizzle

CptTim #34

I’m pretty sure I said it wasn’t wise to bring this bag to a TSA game.

I was really commenting in response to all the people who just chimed in with what a really bad idea this is.

It isn’t.

It’s just that, in your climate of fear, everything seems to revolve around how your country’s security apparatus will look upon the things you choose. What has a jumped up Transport Authority’s opinion got to do with everyday fashion?

Clearly, the terrorist won a long time ago.
june

I look forward to the inevitable BoingBoing post that’s a screed against TSA for hassling someone who’s carrying this bag.

Come on, man. There’s actually being hassled over nothing; then there’s just asking for trouble. And like others have already pointed out, this is rude to all the other people you’re going to inconvenience with your little “prank”.
theMage

Well, I guess there is that segment of society (anal pleasure fans) that would enjoy the extra attention of the TSA.

Just remember to arrive an extra four or five hours before your flight time.
Takuan

He did not. That election and the one previous were both stolen.
UnderRat

Can they make this as a cod-piece?
Antinous

Well, I guess there is that segment of society (anal pleasure fans) that would enjoy the extra attention of the TSA.

You’ve never seen an actual TSA screener, have you?
se7a7n7

WOW that’s dumb. Why don’t you just make one that looks like a bomb while you’re at it.

Remember that girl that thought it was a good idea to go to the airport with a t-shirt that looked like a bomb was attached to it, Complete with wires and batteries? Yea, she should have know better, so should anyone who would consider taking this to an airport, or even buying this bag.
arkizzle

ho ho ho :)
Takuan

have too

http://www.dba-oracle.com/images/barney_fife.jpg
arkizzle

#39 was @ #37

Antinous, you may have a couple of ‘ho’s too.

Any flavour you like :)
arkizzle

#39 was @ #37

Antinous, you may have a couple of ‘ho’s too.

Any flavour you like :)
Cpt. Tim

“Clearly, the terrorist won a long time ago.”

well yeah. I feel defeated by terrorists everytime i look at a gadget and have to think really hard “Does this look like a bomb, will i lose this if i bring it with me?”
ark

There goes a man who’s never in a hurry to get anywhere…
pffft

Not my cup of tea, but I can see why some people make these types of fashion statements. Frankly, I think it’s healthy for us that there are some people out there with enough cajones to do these kinds of things and the rest of us should just take a deep breath.

I personally don’t like to be provocative but that’s just my personality. But we need these folks to push limits, even if it does inconvenience us just a tiny bit. If we all just go along with big brother we’ll end up in a bad way and not even notice.

But anyway, I really doubt that this would hold up a security line for very long. If the TSA monkey really did have a problem with the bag, the bag holder would be pulled out of the line and the security line would keep going. They wouldn’t simply stop the line while the figured this out.
Fnarf

Ha! Guns are funny!
agoodsandwich

It’s a cool accessory, but isn’t this just ASKING for trouble if you travel with it? Technically harmless and legal, but the pragmatist in me says just don’t take it to the airport.
Guy Foulard

Ecch…I’m so sick of hipster gun imagery koolness on t-shirts, jewelry etc. It just shows the distance and obliviousness these smug turds have from people who are actually at risk of being killed dues to the overabundance of guns and gun-loving attitudes in America. Though I guess this shitty bag is European.