James connell once bubbled...
I CAUSED THAT!!! 
i was working on the widby island naval airstation a year ago.
we had the company 3/4ton van and all i had in it was my gear during the two weeks we were going on and off the base. it was kool for the first week than they started to be hard asses about things - they searched the van and when they found all my scuba gear they wanted to know why i had it in the van - i told then"we're were on an island for christ sake!!! and i can't work all the time! ( the reason it was in the van was so i could go dive right after work instead of haveing to load the stuff - but why tell them that?)
Next day - the warning about terrorist scuba divers came out
Ohh, so this is ALL YOUR fault.........
Here's another good one......
I live in a condo. I am a PADI instructor, and often have a lot of gear piled up in the living room, in my truck etc.. I also have an enclosed trailer for transportation of gear. There are dive stickers all over my vehicles and boat. One day my door was open, and one could easily see the SCUBA gear, UW cameras and other equip ( from the doorway). Now this is a very small condo complex, in a quiet Vermont town.
Well, for some reason or another , a State Police Officer had walked past the entrance to my condo (don't know exactly why he was on premisis, probably visiting someone, or responding to some complaint or whatever).
Anyway, later that morning, two troupers showed up at my door and started asking questions about why I had so much SCUBA gear. I invited them in for coffee and explained that I was an instructor and elaborated a little about what I do. I observed their behavior. They were looking all around the place constantly.
I also have a surveilance camera (so I can keep an eye on the driveway where My trailer, equipment etc is). When they say that, they just looked at each other wide-eyed. "Oh, you have a survelance camera", one of them said. Many questions followed. "where did you get all this gear. It looks expensive. Howdid you pay for it. etc... Now I am all about being involved in my comunity, cooperation with local civil agencies etc.. But WOW. I got everything but the rubber glove.
Think I'm on the list yet?
Here's the irony. Five minutes after they left, I saw an extremely intoxicated man walking (staggering) into another condo with a pistol in his hand. It was real, I got a good look as he passed right by me. He actually kind of snarled at me. I was outside in the driveway. A few minutes later I heard him screaming and yelling. I heard stuff being thrown around inside.
Concerned, I phoned the Police. Spoke to same officer (as I said,I live in a small town). He asked' "did he point the gun at you?" No, I said. "Have you heard any shots?", No, I said. "Well there's not much we can do, call us back if he threatens you or you hear shots."
Guess these days carrying a "loaded" SCUBA tank is considered more dangerous than a "loaded" gun.
Go figure...
