Mandatory metal detectors at Camden Yards

[Tx Oriole]

What's up with this?

I've never been scanned at Orioles games before, and now this is happening at every gate.

It slows the entry to the game to a crawl, and it's a bit unsettling.

Any word from O's brass as to why this has been recently implemented?

That's just the way it is now days. If it keeps someone from

sneaking in some kind of weapon then I am all for it.

[Redskins Rick]

Have you ever flown in either of those places? Because what you just said is simply not true. Flying in those places is a breeze compared to going through TSA.

Yes, the men went left and the women went right on the plane, and they pulled the curtain in front and behind each of us, and they hand searched, every last one of us, it took forever.

[Anonsnides]

Yes, the men went left and the women went right on the plane, and they pulled the curtain in front and behind each of us, and they hand searched, every last one of us, it took forever.

I can imagine it's not pleasant. But it's also not typical at all. I've flown several times in the middle east, Africa and a bunch of times in Europe, and I've never once experienced what you are talking about.

In fact, every single time I've just had to walk through a medal detector and do the same with my luggage.

I'm curious how many times you've encountered this, because I have never once heard of it happening. That's a pretty American thing to do.

[Mizerooskie]

Try flying in the middle east and Europe, when every passenger is hand screened before entering the plane.

I flew in the middle east and was not hand screened.

[Dipper9]

Nobody likes the changes to the Airline Industry since 9-11, but people like even less, to bury friends and love ones.

This should end the thread. Great post!

I won't even comment on some of the other things I've read, as it'll just get me fired up.

[Creamsicle]

...I've just had to walk through a medal detector...

Me too. They nailed me for my Dad's purple heart, which I'd forgotten was in my pocket, but didn't object to all the boy scout merit badges I was carrying.

[El Gordo]

Camden Yards is secure enough. There are plenty of police officers all throughout the ballpark, equipped and trained to deal with any possible, highly unlikely scenarios.

The metal detector policy is ridiculous, intrusive. But, if it has to be implemented, let's do it in a way that is at least quick.

If that was the case, how do those bozos get onto the field and run around like idiots. Suppose they were packing. An Oriole game until recently did not constitute the pursuit of happiness, so I don't think it's an unalienable right, any more than it is to enter any other business establishment.

[DrungoHazewood]

Last I checked, Major League Baseball and the Orioles were not an arm of the government.

You probably don't want to go too far down that rabbit hole... OPACY is owned by the state of Maryland, and the Baltimore Orioles and MLB would look radically different if not for very substantial financial support from various levels of government. Not to mention an anti-trust exemption granted by the federal government.

[MurphDogg]

If that was the case, how do those bozos get onto the field and run around like idiots. Suppose they were packing. An Oriole game until recently did not constitute the pursuit of happiness, so I don't think it's an unalienable right, any more than it is to enter any other business establishment.

The world around you doesn't have a metal detector. At a certain point you have to believe in the decency of your fellow man and hope that he will not shoot you and your kids as you walk down your street. There is no reason to think that the people running on to the field are any more likely to have a gun that they intend to use on you than it is that the man in the park where you take your dog has a gun that he intends to use on you. Setting up metal detectors outside of every single public area is futile and a waste of time and resources.

[crowmst3k!]

If that was the case, how do those bozos get onto the field and run around like idiots. Suppose they were packing. An Oriole game until recently did not constitute the pursuit of happiness, so I don't think it's an unalienable right, any more than it is to enter any other business establishment.

1. They get onto the field by climbing/jumping over the fence.

2. If they were packing, the police who monitor the field would draw their service weapons upon seeing this and attempt to neutralize the threat.

3. I never said anything about unalienable rights, and am not trying to liken this to an argument on liberty or intrusion, I only said it was a pain in the ass, unnecessary, and could hurt walkup crowds because of the increased time to get into the park.

[DrungoHazewood]

Nobody likes the changes to the Airline Industry since 9-11, but people like even less, to bury friends and love ones.

This should end the thread. Great post!

I won't even comment on some of the other things I've read, as it'll just get me fired up.

I believe that, at the very least, society needs to have a debate about the appropriate levels of security and intrusion that are necessary to reasonably protect people. When you say things like "nobody likes all this security stuff, but you like death less!" you're kind of implying that this is a black-and-white choice between over-the-top security measures or mass death. It's really a continuum, and the country has choices to make about how much risk it's willing to accept. For me that's well short of a police state attempting to always keep everyone 100% safe by whatever means necessary. Others' opinions may vary.

[Dipper9]

If one life is saved by the use of these metal detectors, than that one life if worth the extra 5 minutes it might take us to get through the gate.

[Nigel Tufnel]

This move probably has a lot to do with liability - if there ever were a stadium shooting, there would almost certainly be a lawsuit against everyone involved for allowing the gun into the stadium. Metal detectors give the teams a defense against that.

[MurphDogg]

If one life is saved by the use of these metal detectors, than that one life if worth the extra 5 minutes it might take us to get through the gate.

While surely this sentiment makes you a hero, we have had 100+ years of MLB games and I haven't seen any evidence of a single life that would have been saved if a metal detector had been present.

[Dipper9]

I believe that, at the very least, society needs to have a debate about the appropriate levels of security and intrusion that are necessary to reasonably protect people. When you say things like "nobody likes all this security stuff, but you like death less!" you're kind of implying that this is a black-and-white choice between over-the-top security measures or mass death. It's really a continuum, and the country has choices to make about how much risk it's willing to accept. For me that's well short of a police state attempting to always keep everyone 100% safe by whatever means necessary. Others' opinions may vary.

My daughter was in the cafeteria a couple years ago at Perry Hall High when the nutjob opened fire on kids in the cafeteria. I'm not going to come on here and rant and rave about what should or shouldn't be done, but I will say that taking a few minutes to go through a metal detector has an entirely different perspective when someone you love is a few feet away from an event like that.