I received a couple of comments about this article that bear addressing.
Probably the most important aspect of this security failure is the fact that the traveler didn't 'realize' that his gun was in the bag. Also, when the red teams are conducting the tests referred to in the article, they know that there won't be any prison time or any other bad thing happen to them if they're caught. In both situations, the travelers aren't going to be giving off the cue's that would likely bring a TSA Officer's attention fully to the fore. It's easy to say "Oh, they should be fully focused on the screens the whole time they're on duty", and I agree that it would be nice if such were the case, but it just isn't ever going to happen. It's like driving down the highway. We really should be fully focused when we're out in our cars traveling 70-80 mph, but how often are we, really.
On the other hand, a traveler that 'knows' there are potentially going to be strongly negative repercussions for the items they choose to put in their bag is going to be fairly radiating cues that say "I'm your chance to be a hero, today!"
This shouldn't be construed as a defense of TSA, per se. Most of what they do is a waste of time and money. But one shouldn't assume that someone planning to go tango would be able to get through undetected just because someone that isn't planning such makes it through.
