Metal Detector At Parliament

A metal detector will be set up at the rear entrance to parliament, with additional purposes than was initially announced last December.

MBL reports that a metal detector will soon be a part of the rear entrance to parliament. This is the entrance guests take to sit in the gallery overlooking the floor of parliament itself.

Helgi Bernódusson, the parliamentary office manager, told reporters that the purpose of the metal detector is to increase the security of the parliamentary building, by preventing people from taking metal objects into the gallery that they might throw at people below, and to prevent people from hurting themselves.

The risk of anyone throwing things at MPs or other parliamentary staff was not a part of the reasons initially mentioned last December, when the metal detector idea was first confirmed.

At that time, a guest to parliament had recently gone into the parliamentary restrooms and cut himself with an unidentified sharp metal object. In the wake of this, Helgi told reporters about the impending metal detectors, adding, “After that incident, we decided to respond in this way.” No mention was made of a potential throwing-metal attack from the parliamentary gallery.

As before, however, neither parliamentary staff nor MPs will have to walk through the metal detector – only guests.