TSA finds ‘artfully concealed’ stun gun in cane at Boise Airport

Published at 9:00 am, May 22, 2025

Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman

stun gun sword — Security officers at Boise Airport on Tuesday discovered a stun gun integrated into the handle of a passenger’s cane. The passenger told officers that they purchased the cane for self-defense after they were unable to find a cane with a blade insight the shaft. | Courtesy Transportation Security Administration

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BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Thinking of bringing a stun gun through airport security, disguised as a cane? Federal security officers want you to know that won’t fly.

Transportation Security Administration officers caught one such device at the Boise Airport on Tuesday when their scanners picked up an image of a cane that “had been tampered with,” according to a news release from the federal agency. Officers found a stun gun “artfully concealed” in the cane near its removable handle, TSA said.

The passenger told officers they bought the cane in California for self-defense — after they were unable to find a “cane sword,” which has a hidden blade inside the shaft, according to TSA. The passenger voluntarily gave up the device before continuing on their way.

TSA requires passengers to stow tasers and stun guns in checked bags, according to the release.

Boise travelers have tried to bring a wide range of prohibited items through security, including a sledgehammer, a handsaw and a slingshot, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.

TSA maintains an Instagram account that documents its most unusual finds in U.S. airports. Officers have found marijuana in a body wash bottle in New York, a needle and double-edged dagger in a pair of underwear in Portland, and snakes — or “danger noodles,” as TSA called them — in a passenger’s pants in Miami.

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