Ever wonder what happens to all the knives, power tools, snow globes, baseball bats, sunglasses, jewelry and overcoats that get confiscated or left behind at TSA airport checkpoints?

Check eBay or GovDeals.com. Or come to one of the many government-run surplus stores around the country that sell TSA chattel. You'll find belts for $5, cork screws and nail clippers all 10 cents each, scissors at $3 a pair. In Austin, Texas, there's an auction of collectible knives every Friday.

The Middle Seat, which ran Monday on the front page instead of its usual Thursday, looks at how the Transportation Security Administration sends truckloads of prohibited items off for resale. (Click here for full column.) The goods range from the dangerous like box cutters, machetes and hunting knives to the seemingly harmless like rolling pins, socket wrenches and small hand-held exercise weights.

By law, the federal government donates the surplus to states, which have agencies set up to sell surplus government equipment. (States keep the proceeds.) Items that get left behind are sold as well, including jewelry, phone chargers, sunglasses and belts. Lots of belts. Here's a list of state agencies that sell surplus government property from NASASP.org, with contact information.

Harried travelers rush off and leave clothing, neck pillows and valuables behind. Forgetful or inexperienced travelers show up with handguns, pocket knives – so many pocket knives! – and other things considered by TSA to be possible weapons, like scissors and corkscrews. TSA believes some travelers test the checkpoints, figuring their items won't get caught. And innocuous items get disqualified by TSA's sometimes overreaching screeners: toy guns, flimsy plastic Wiffle Ball bats and nail clippers, all of which are allowed under TSA rules.