I've never had a problem taking a needle or two. If I'm doing applique, I try to take things already basted so I don't have to worry about pins. If you'll need to clip curves on your applique, Fiskars co. makes a round-nosed child's scissors that's available in the school-supplies sections of many stores that I've never had confiscated. And they're quite inexpensive, so no big loss even if they were taken.
Janelle