Lambert TSA agent confiscates pistol from woman's sock monkey

SEATTLE -- A cowboy sock monkey's tiny toy pistol was no laughing matter for the Transportation Security Administration.

A Redmond, Wash., woman says a TSA agent seized the replica weapon as she passed through the Lambert-International Airport in St. Louis. Phyllis May told KING she was "appalled and shocked and embarrassed" about the Dec. 3 incident. May has a business selling sock monkey dolls. She says she was on her way back to Washington state when a TSA agent went through her bag and found the monkey's two-inch toy pistol.

The TSA agent said she'd have to confiscate the toy.

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