[Buff]

I was on my way back home from another great trip to Las Vegas. I went for a conference, so work paid my way. Fortunately the conference was at Bellagio! But, this story isn't about Bellagio. This story is about what happened at the airport on the way back.

My wife and I had just got through security and we were gathering our belongings and putting our shoes on again when I noticed an unusually large amount of security guards gathered a couple of lines over from us. They were surrounding two guys, more guards were rushing to the scene, and one of the guards handed a small handgun to a guard who just walked up to the gathering.

Not sensing any immediate danger I took a long time to put on my shoes as I watched what was going on. They looked that gun over and over. The guys they were detaining didn't speak a word of english. Something tells me that may have just been a convenient ruse. I heard them radio for a guard who spoke a certain language, I don't recall what it was now, but it was from a European country.

The guard who kept inspecting the gun over and over finally wrapped his finger around the trigger, held the gun at about his chest level with the barrel pointing towards the ceiling and he squeezed the trigger. There were gasps, and nearby travelers who were paying attention all stopped in their tracks. It was quiet for a moment, but there was not sound of a gun discharging because the blasted thing was a lighter! I don't think they were going to let the guy keep it though, but it looked like he was trying to get it back!