TSA's Deep Pockets

Almost every time that we travel somewhere by plane, my dad gets his pocket knife taken away by the TSA. After seeing this happen a ridiculous amount of times, I began to wonder what the TSA does with all of the things that they take from people. After some research, I was shocked to discover the different ways that the TSA disposes of prohibited items, from shampoo to pocket knives. According to The Week, most liquids are thrown away, and all other items may either be donated or sold. Donation is a good solution and throwing stuff out is obviously not the most resourceful or economical thing to do, but I was most taken back by the fact that the government is permitted to sell the confiscated items. After reading more into the article on The Week, I discovered that, "The TSA is prohibited by law from profiting from items surrendered to them, but other government agencies' hands aren't tied the same way. Stuff that could potentially be resold is turned over to the states... and the state of Pennsylvania says it made some $800,000 in revenue from re-selling confiscated property online between 2004 and 2012." (read full article here) To me it seems very strange that just because one part of the government can't sell confiscated items, they simply hand it over to another in order to be resold. Honestly, what difference does it make? Either way, the government is taking our stuff and making an large profit on it. Fortunately, the government doesn't sell everything that they confiscate. There are some things, like scissors, that are donated to non-profit organizations or schools.

Is it okay for our government to confiscate our property and sell it for their own benefit? Is it the American people's fault for not following the rules in the first place? What are some other actions that could be taken that would be a better use of the acquired property? Should the property simply be returned to it's owner?