I found a comment on a tech website that does help provide some perspective:
[H]ow far are we willing to go to prevent weapons or bombs from getting on airplanes? In the past decade, terrorists on airplanes have killed just about 3,000 people — all on one day. Even if the Christmas Day bomber had succeeded, the number would be under 3,500. Those are horrible deaths. But in that same period, more than 150,000 people have been murdered in the United States. We haven't put the entire U.S. on lockdown — or even murder capitals like Detroit, New Orleans and Baltimore
Indeed! Can you imagine the ****storm that would descend upon us all if the United States government locked down the country because of a few murders? Pandemonium!
TSA Full-Body Scanners: Protecting Passengers or Padding Pockets?