Take tweezers, but let us order toxins online?

As we approach Independence Day and celebrate our nation's freedom, it's clear the horror of Sept. 11, 2001, has forever changed life here in the United States.

We no longer are reeling from that terrorist attack and have come to accept security measures as a matter-of-fact part of everyday life. Metal screeners scan us as we enter a courthouse or many public and even private businesses. We show photo IDs for basic purchases, to board a plane, to cash a check. We have to remove our shoes, belts and jackets to go through airport security and we can't carry matches, a cigarette lighter or bottle of water on board.

But somehow, despite all the steps taken to strengthen the security of our homeland, we can order a lethal toxin - fatal at 1 milligram - over the Internet using a fake ID? The company can ship it via FedEx, UPS or U.S. mail to an unidentified post office box in an unsecured package? And someone with a fake ID can just pick it up and take it to his suburban home?

That's just - how can we put this nicely? - utterly ridiculous.

To say we need to quickly close whatever loophole permitted a Lake in the Hills man to, according to authorities, acquire tetrodotoxin for still unknown purposes is a classic understatement.

We do not know what the outcome of the case against Edward F. Bachner will be, but we do know his arrest on charges of possession of a deadly biological agent raises concerns that need immediate answers.

We are impressed with the alert company employee who quickly notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the attempt to purchase 98 milligrams of the toxin, which causes paralysis and possible death if inhaled or infested. And we're even more impressed with the FBI agents who acted swiftly, coordinating a rapid response to diffuse the potentially volatile situation.

But, good grief - how could anyone acquire so much of a potent poison, which has no known antidote, simply by sending an e-mail?

Federal documents indicate Bachner's mistake, apparently, was in ordering too much this time. Previously, the federal complaint contends, he obtained the substance without setting off red flags. It seems people can get the toxin, known also as TTX, with proper documentation, if they limit the quantity ordered to one or two milligrams. What's to stop someone from falsifying that documentation - which seems easy enough given federal authorities say Bachner created a fake firm and title to acquire 64 milligrams? Why would we allow anyone to order tetrodotoxin online at all if it kills at a single milligram level?

The federal agents' discovery of six empty vials that once held the toxin at Bachner's home has justifiably stirred fear. What happened to the previously ordered toxin so easily purchased via the Internet? Has it been used? Was anyone harmed? Is it sitting somewhere yet to do harm?

We don't know the answers to those questions. We have no idea how anyone could so easily obtain such a volatile poison in the first place. But we do know where to find countless nail clippers, tweezers and cigarette lighters, confiscated from thousands of air travelers in the name of security. And that's not exactly reassuring, is it?