Yeah, I could see how one could interpret it that way. To clarify, I think TSA is nuts to drop the ban. A 2" blade held to the carotid of a flight attendant is just as deadly as a 10" one. As to baseball bats? Who the HELL needs to carry on a baseball bat??
To me, unfortunately, they're in a no win situation.
On one hand, they've been trying to understand and respect the notion that the public doesn't like all the restrictions on flying and wants to see it get better. That's why over the years they've instituted things like the TSA approved laptop bags that you don't need to remove your computer from, TSA Pre Check service that speeds up and simplifies the screening process, updated screening procedures simplifying things for those under 12 and over 75, massive roll out of a Behavior Detection Program, etc. Hell, even the new "body scanners" and such that has been the controversy of recent years in part came about because early on people were complaining that so much of the work and scanning was done with "old technology" and "physical stuff" and complaining that they needed to find a faster way using technology to check for things. The removal of restrictions on things like Swiss Army Knives fall in that same route. They are actions and endeavors by TSA over the years to attempt and acknowledge some of the public's issues with screening and try and expedite, simplify, and improve the process through making it easier on those undergoing it.
On the other hand, each time they do something like this typically all that happens is people continue to bitch about how horrible TSA is and/or shift from the original complaint that helped perpetuate the fix to some degree to a new complaint ABOUT the fix. This, again, is a wonderful example of this. TSA actually loosens restrictions...and then people complain that TSA is loosening the restriction.
Ultimately, and this is where people in the article miss the point, TSA's mission and goal is the ensure the safety and integrity of the nations Transportation Network. While possible physical altercations and violations of the law on an airplane is a serious thing...and mind you, something a specific office in TSA IS aimed in part at dealing with...it is the more minor portion of it's goal. This is because a guy being drunk and stupidly stabbing a flight attendant is not going to cause a disruption in the nations transportation system, it's going to at most have a very localized impact. TSA's biggest focuses are on things that WILL cause that disruption...that's why I suggested in another thread that I don't see the outside liquid containers regulation going away anytime soon, because the potential threat it poses in terms of IED's is a FAR greater threat.
Thanks to expansions in the Air Marshal Program since 9/11, the expansion in the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, the new armored and locked cockpit doors and regulations regarding how/when to open them, and other such things the dangers of a mildly armed individual on a plane taking it over has been reduced to a certain degree. While it is still a threat and a danger, the other factors help mitigate that threat to a point where TSA felt it could loosen some of it's restrictions in the name of balancing security with ease of travel.
