VANCOUVER (CP) -- The safety message doesn't seem to be getting out to Canadian air travellers as thousands of fake weapons are being found during airport screening, Canada's security authority said Thursday.
In the first six months of this year, 3,000 fake guns, water pistols, toy grenades and other items were seized from travellers in Canada.
''In a post 9-11 world there are a lot of things that you really shouldn't be bringing on board an aircraft,'' said Renee Fairweather of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
Fairweather said people often don't realize that something like a neon-green water gun can look the same as a real weapon through X-ray.
''Screeners can't take a chance,'' she said.
''Whenever there's something that resembles a weapon, they have certain steps they have to take. And those cause delays for passengers.''
There's a long list of objects banned from carry-on luggage, including sharp and pointed objects like scissors, knives and box cutters.
Fairweather said people need to think carefully about what they carry on in the hand luggage.
''There's actually a perfume out on the market now that's in the shape of a grenade. We've intercepted that a few times.''
Summer is one of the busiest travel times of the year and Fairweather said finding the banned carry-on items slows travelling down, and could even cause a person to miss their flight.
The security authority was created by the federal government after the 9-11 terror attacks in the United States.
