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wgoforth wrote:The shirt I had worn the day before was also on the top of the suitcase. I had worn it to go shooting with the guys for two hours and even smelled like gunpowder... yet swipe was negative. Go figure...

Like I said, the ionization test that the machine conducts doesn't test for the byproducts of combustion.

Jumping Frog wrote:Modern smokeless powders used in ammunition are not explosives.

Actually they are, just a different level, at least for the purpose of such classification.

The explosive residue test tests for the ionization products of the components of explosives, for the sake of simplicity: the patch is put in an oven and the product of cooking it is analyzed for an explosive signature. Gun smoke has already been "exploded" (or burned, for purists in that respect (actually deflagrated)) and the precursors for explosives are gone, what is left is the byproducts of burning. That is a vast over simplification, but it serves to make the point.

In my opinion, having spent several years using and adjusting those machines, if it didn't go off when your gun case was swiped, it means the machine was: a) out of calibration; b) adjusted a little off; or c) the user didn't do it right. In my experience, c is probably the most likely answer.

The TSA agent is not authorized to handle your gun. When I was still with TSA, I flew to San Antonio to take a federal test (got a 96) and went and shot with some friends. On my way back, TSA "threated" my gun (against TSA policy) merely because it was a gun and the x-ray was being used in the wrong mode. Then the agent handled the gun (against TSA RULES!) while doing an explosive residue test on it (not the best idea anyway). I wrote both of them up