01/17/2004: 
Criminally Absurd
EU bans skateboard air security "risk"
from EUPolitix
Skateboards and lacrosse sticks will be banned from planes "as potentially dangerous weapons" in an EU air security crackdown.
A February Europe-wide ban includes recreational equipment on a Brussels "prohibited list" amid a growing terror scare surrounding air travel.
"Potentially a skateboard is a weapon," a European Commission spokesman said.
"Some new skateboards have a sharp edge for example."
The Commission went on to say that passengers would no longer be allowed to wear cloths because "potentially clothes are a weapon." "Clothes could be used to fashion a garrote and therefore represent a strangulation hazard."
More obvious threats such as firearms and explosive grenades are alongside fishing rods and golf clubs as a "blunt instrument capable of causing injury."
EU officials were unable to provide the detailed risk assessment for skateboards as a tool of terror but insisted the ban came from European civil aviation authorities.
