Couple’s Gun Shaped Key Not Welcome on Their Cruise

File this somewhere between stupid and hard to believe. I can tell the difference between a gun and a key, even if the key is in the shape of a gun. But apparently for a cruise line the gun-shaped key was enough of a “threat” that they gave a couple a hard time about it.

Carnival cruise lines denied boarding to Henry Echevarria, a deputy sheriff in Pasco County, Florida, and his wife, Lisa, last month. A ship security guard stopped them as they were boarding and pulled Henry’s keys out of his pocket. the security guard told the couple they couldn’t have the key on the boat.

Echevarria says he tried to explain that there was no way the key could be used as a weapon. First of all, it’s too small to get your fingers around the “grip” or into the trigger hole. Besides, IT’S A KEY. Not a gun! The ship’s staff said no way and Echevarria had to put the key in the ship’s safe until their trip was over.

The cruise line stood by their policy, which states that it bans all firearms, including replicas and imitations. Carnival’s spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz says that witholding the key was a mistake and that the third-party company that provides security overstepped the meaning of the term “replica.”

Image courtesy Henry Echevarria via foxnews.com