Under_exposed is right to suggest that security problems should be addressed. However there is a right and a wrong way of doing this. The right way is to highlight security concerns to the responsible authority by presenting evidence and having lapses looked into. The wrong way is to scare to death an already nervous flying public and undermine an already fragile industry by publishing sensationalist headlines in cheap Sunday rags.
I pity BA here,having their name tarnished through no fault of their own. I also cannot believe that supposedly "responsible" adults carry on like this in a pre-meditated way.Have they any conception of the panic that would have ensued had any of the pax on board or a crew member spotted these weapons when they were being exposed and photographed as the journos claim?
Finally, as with other posts in this thread, I feel the journalists concerned should be treated in the same way any other terrorist would be in this situation. Endangering an aircraft is a crime and by smuggling weapons on board that is exactly what these people did. Throw the book at them.