| 22 January 2010
Harry Houdini made a career escaping from locked boxes. So did David Copperfield and Doug Henning.
And now you can add AMTRAK passengers packing heat in their luggage to that list of escape artists.
It sounds absurd. But President Obama actually signed a bill into law Wednesday that would require passengers who carry firearms aboard AMTRAK be locked in boxes for their journey.
It’s a mistake. But for now, the clerical error is the law of the land.
Earlier this week, Congress sent the president a massive spending bill that funded dozens of federal departments. Tucked into the transportation section of the legislation are safety requirements for AMTRAK customers who carry firearms on board the government-backed train system. The bill Congress passed mandates that passengers with firearms declare they have weapons with them in advance and stow them in locked boxes while on the train.