This is a story tailor-made for the Herald: The Mass Pike has changed a long-standing but secretive policy that allowed toll collectors to carry .38-caliber handguns. The union that represents these workers plans to oppose the rule change, saying they need the weapons for protection when transporting toll money away from the booths.

State Senator Steve Baddour told the Herald: “It’s absurd. The last time I saw a toll taker carrying a gun was when Sonny got blown away in ‘The Godfather.’”

Of course, the change gave Howie Carr ammunition for outraged punditry. He called toll collectors "sticky-fingered payroll patriots" and said, "I assume if you are whacked, 10 cents for the bullet will be charged to your estate’s FastPass, just like the Red Chinese do."

It seems gratuitous to criticize the Mass Pike in retrospect for a potentially dangerous policy that no one knew about in the first place. The point of the story is that the guns have been taken way. But you have to give the Herald credit for their cover, with the bullet-pierced Pike pilgrim hat. These people are tabloid pros.