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Buzz Lightyear Confiscated: Child’s Toy Considered Security Threat By TSA

By Regina Avalos
Published on: 00:36 PST, Nov 21, 2015

A boy had his Buzz Lightyear toy confiscated, and the story is now making national headlines. A man and his son were returning home after a visit to the happiest place on earth in Orlando, but the trip to Disney World did not end on a happy note, according to CBS Miami.

David Zilka, and his son Levi, were returning to Pennsylvania, but they were prevented from boarding the plane because the boy’s toy looked too much like a real gun. The boy’s uncle had bought him a “Buzz Lightyear Flip Grip” toy gun during the trip, and the boy had it with him when the father and son were going through a TSA security checkpoint at the airport.

The TSA agents on staff thought the toy gun (pictured below) looked too much like a real gun, and they felt the need to confiscate it. Before they did that, the TSA agents on duty did inform the father and his son of other options they had open to them in regards to the toy. One of those options was to place the toy in their checked luggage, but the pair only had carry-on luggage for their flight.

This meant that the only option the TSA had in the situation was to confiscate the toy gun. In this case, the toy gun landed in the trash at the checkpoint. The TSA released a statement about the incident.

“TSA officers are charged with protecting passengers and making final judgments on which items are permitted on aircraft. In our review of this situation, the officer’s decision complied with approved procedures. We recently reinforced that training on the procedures with every front line TSA officer. TSA officers have the discretion to deny passage of an item if they cannot definitively rule out that the item could be used as a weapon, or perceived to be a weapon, including replica weapons.”

The TSA might have acted within in their training, but the result was a very upset little boy, according to his father. He broke into tears when he saw that his new toy was tossed into the trash.

David Zilka spoke about the incident with the media.

“We couldn’t go on the plane yet because they said it looks too much like a gun and you can’t bring guns on the plane. Once he realized what was happening, that they weren’t giving his toy back, he immediately starts bawling, just tears streaming down his face, crying. We understand that things are scary out there right now, but taking a toy from a 5-year-old doesn’t enhance national security.”

According to Daily Mail, this is not the first time a toy and a young child have made news after an incident with the TSA. Back in August, a young boy and his family were going through a TSA checkpoint at a U.K. airport when his new toy gun was caught by the X-Ray machines at the checkpoint.

The TSA agents demanded the toy be removed from the boy’s luggage, and then they proceeded to frisk the boy, who was with his parents at the time. Phil Hayward, the boy’s father, was upset by the incident. He felt that the TSA went too far with his four-year-old son.

Daily Mail also reported of another incident back in April. A boy had his Minion toy gun taken away from him by TSA because it was also considered to be a threat by the agents at the airport.

In all three of these cases, the toys look nothing like real guns, but the TSA decided that they still fell into the category of a threat to the people on board the plane.

In the case of the Buzz Lightyear toy gun, David Zilka did file a complaint about the incident with the TSA. His son’s toy gun has since been found, and there are plans to ship it to him.

What do you think about the TSA’s stance on toy guns? Do you think the toys should be considered a threat by the TSA like they were in these three incidents?

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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