Another point which seems to have been missed. Someone earlier quoted the Aviation and Maratime Security Act. Read it again, it clearly states that to commit the offence the person has to falsly answer a question put to him by certain classes of people. so for instance if you are carring something for someone else and denie it when asked at check-in then offence commited. So far no one has suggested he was asked anything to prompt the comment about the gun. It would appear to be a response to a pen knife being found. Please remember that up until the events in the US you could buy one in the duty free shops Airside at Heathrow...that is AFTER the security checks. He hasn't made any form of threat, mearly made a coment. So what criminal offence has been commited??? None as far as I can see. Now before everyone leaps on thier horses and starts having a go, I don't condone what was said. This all does however seem to be an over re action to a silly comment that 6 months ago and in 6 months time would have been ignored. Another thing to bear in mind is if it were any of you making the comment the whole thing would have ended there and then. Because this chap was a police officer, it will be investigated, with far more resourses used than would be if it were your 90 year old grans house that had been burgled and her beaten up. The end result will probably be a discipline board which could result in him losing his job for bring the force into distrupute. Would your union stand for that happening to you?