‘Confiscation’ or downright theft?

Imagine this: A man comes up with a gun pointed at you and asks you to “surrender” your valuables. You go to the police to report the theft, yet you use the polite term “confiscated.” They will call a spade a spade: It was stolen, with no chance of getting it back. This is what happens daily at the airports, and it is our Transportation Security Agency, a government agency, that does it (“Counter Point,” by J. Michael Kennedy, May 22).

I am in no way suggesting the things that are “surrendered” should be allowed on the plane, but the fact that the passenger has no recourse to recover the item makes the agency nothing other than organized criminals.

Andrew Carrillo

Venice