Odd Harald Hauge went through two security controls with a pistol and ammunition in his hand luggage. Avinor, the company that owns 45 airports in Norway, is shocked.

«It’s comical,» Hauge said. «The history indicates that the security checks do not work the way they are supposed to.»

Hauge, the entrepreneur, former editor and owner of Nettavisen, was on his way back from Svalbard to Oslo, when he forgot that he had a signal pistol and shells in the side pocket of his backpack. He did not think of it until he was unpacking his bag back home. He said he think the event was particularly ironic because security personnel have several times confiscated small scissors among his toiletries.

Located knife

Hauge was at Svalbard as a guide for a group of 35 people. He purchased the gun at Svalbard to protect himself and the group against polar bears. The pistol had during the entire stay been in his backpack, and he completely forgot about it.

At Svalbard airport, he placed the bag together with other hand luggage for x-raying before he boarded the plane. Nobody said anything, and Hauge took the plane to Tromsø. Here he changed planes and continued to Oslo.

In Tromsø he was stopped in the security check and he had to remove a knife from his hand luggage, but the gun passed right through.

Doubtful

Avinor is taking the incident seriously, but the company does not want to comment the story before it has been checked.

«It’s completely incomprehensible that this has occurred,» said Ove Narvesen, head of information at Avinor, to TV 2 Nettavisen. «We must obtain more documentation on this. It seems completely unlikely.»

Narvesen stated that the x-ray system is supposed to identify guns. He said it sounds strange that the knife was discovered and the pistol was not.

«If we are going to comment this, we have to investigate the case thoroughly,» Narvesen said. «We must know exactly what happen, flight numbers and so on.»

Via Nettavisen News in English.

Freedom and Politics [12:32]