TSA agent seizes cowboy sock monkey's 2-inch toy pistol

A cowboy sock monkey has lost his 2-inch pistol after being frisked by a TSA agent in St. Louis.

Phyllis May, of Redmond, Wash., told King 5 News that she was preparing to board a plane to Seattle on Dec. 3 when the TSA agent flagged her carry-on bag that contained "Rooster Monkburn,” a sock monkey modeled off John Wayne’s character in the film “True Grit.”

May, who owns a small business selling sock monkey dolls, said the agent went through the bag of sewing supplies and took issue with Monkburn’s 2-inch toy pistol.

“She said ‘this is a gun,’” May recalled. “I said no, it’s not a gun, it’s a prop for my monkey.”

“She said, ‘If I held it up to your neck, you wouldn’t know if it was real or not,’ and I said ‘really?’” May told King 5 News.

The TSA agent confiscated the toy gun and returned the bag.

The TSA issued a statement on Monday about the incident, saying “under longstanding aircraft security policy, and out of an abundance of caution, realistic replicas of firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags."

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