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Amtrak Raises Objections to Measure Allowing Guns on Trains (but criminals will comply????)
Foxnews ^ | 10/23/2009 | Staff

Posted on 10/23/2009 7:43:32 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA

Amtrak is raising serious objections to a proposal that would allow passengers to stow unloaded guns in their checked baggage, saying the train operator cannot screen passengers' bags the same way airlines do.

The Senate passed a measure last month that would allow passengers to declare and check a weapon on the trains, something airline passengers can do now, provided the weapon is unloaded and in a hard and locked case.

But Amtrak and some House members are against the idea. The House did not include the provision in their version of the bill approved by the Senate.

"That could jeopardize the operations of Amtrak because ... we don't have the monies to invest in the protocol necessary to guarantee that these weapons won't be used against the traveling public," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: amtrak; banglist; rail

1 posted on 10/23/2009 7:43:32 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
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To: Red in Blue PA
the train operator cannot screen passengers' bags the same way airlines do

Then they have no way of knowing who may or may not have weapons in checked luggage. Which means they aren't enforcing the existing law at all. No wonder there are so many shootings on Amtrak trains! </sarcasm>

2 posted on 10/23/2009 7:49:26 PM PDT by sourcery (Those whom the gods would destroy they first make socialist...)
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To: Red in Blue PA
He said he does not want any weapons, checked or unchecked, on his trains

Fire his ass immediately

3 posted on 10/23/2009 7:52:48 PM PDT by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: Red in Blue PA

If every law abiding citizen on an Amtrak train had a gun, the bad guys wouldn’t challenge anyone.


4 posted on 10/23/2009 7:59:42 PM PDT by doc1019
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To: Red in Blue PA

If there had been ONE armed citizen aboard that LIRR commuter about 10 years back when Colin Ferguson started offing folks, the death toll would have been a hell of a lot lower.

This country is slap nuts.


5 posted on 10/23/2009 8:00:01 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (VFERY)
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To: sourcery

Hmmm. If I have a concealed permit to carry in Texas and board a train in Dallas enroute to San Antonio.... since I’m not leaving the state...why shouldn’t I be allowed to carry the concealed weapon legally?


6 posted on 10/23/2009 8:01:53 PM PDT by Froggie
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To: Froggie
Because Nanny Gooberment is afraid you might get a hang-nail by brushing up against your nasty firearm, and besides, you scare hell out of Nanny Gooberment, being so independent of authority as imposed from above.

They don't get, of course, that authority comes from We, The People.

/johnny

7 posted on 10/23/2009 8:05:47 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Amtrak used to allow checked guns. I went on a few hunting trips by Amtrak trains, checking my guns and notifying the railroad as required. The bagagge guys used to tell me to ignore the requirement to label the containers as firearms - they said someone would steal them for sure along the way if they knew what they were.

Anyway, most airlines allow gun transportation and seem to understand the Constitution, so to hell with Amtrak.


8 posted on 10/23/2009 8:10:50 PM PDT by Sam Cree (absolute reality)
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To: Dick Bachert
If there had been ONE armed citizen aboard that LIRR commuter about 10 years back when Colin Ferguson started offing folks, the death toll would have been a hell of a lot lower.

If I had been the one, I might (would) have bailed off the train ASAP. Just because I carry doesn't mean I'm required or obligated to engage. And knowing me, retreat is probable. I'm only heroic/stupid when trapped.

/johnny

9 posted on 10/23/2009 8:13:07 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Red in Blue PA

don’t even dream of bringing your SMALL pet with you in a secured container,tho.


10 posted on 10/23/2009 8:31:49 PM PDT by MissDairyGoodnessVT (Something stinks in Oslo)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Of course. Given that that DID occur in NEW YORK, you’d still be in jail for shooting the bastard with an unregistered weapon ‘cause you can’t get permits there.


11 posted on 10/23/2009 10:52:09 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (VFERY)
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To: Dick Bachert
Um. My scenario contemplated me slipping off the train without any personal confrontation, so, no, I wouldn't be in jail for shooting anyone.

In Texas or NY.

And if I do have to actually shoot someone, cornered so badly, I don't expect to be arrested. I expect to explain to a Higher Authority how I came to be in such a crappy situation, right before I got dead.

/johnny

12 posted on 10/23/2009 11:00:14 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

So you would “slip off the train” while others — innocent men, women and children— were dying and you had the means to prevent it — regardless of the legal consequences?

Some would call that cowardice.

And I wonder when you DID die at some later time just how you’d explain that to your maker.


13 posted on 10/24/2009 8:17:33 AM PDT by Dick Bachert (VFERY)
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To: Dick Bachert
Some would call it a realistic assessment of survival chances and weighing the possibilities. Carrying doesn't mean that I have the means to prevent an atrocity. Carrying doesn't make one a story-book hero. It just increases the odds of personal survival.

/johnny

14 posted on 10/24/2009 11:19:10 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Then why carry at all? Just cower in the corner and await your turn.


15 posted on 10/24/2009 12:14:30 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (THE 2010 ELECTIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFETIMES! BE THERE!!!)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Run, run, run away.

Saving this one for future reference.

[;-)


16 posted on 10/24/2009 7:09:49 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Bookmark


17 posted on 10/24/2009 7:11:17 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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To: AZ .44 MAG
You do that. Failure to engage isn't a crime. And it's pretty smart, after a certain age.

/johnny

18 posted on 10/24/2009 9:21:40 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

I would have a hard time looking in the mirror knowing I ran away, armed, did nothing, and let others die when I could have acted and stopped it.

But that’s just me.

You’re free to choose your own path.


19 posted on 10/24/2009 9:44:49 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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To: AZ .44 MAG
Then you would be the flashy hero. I don't do that anymore. It hurts the joints.

Care to cite your terms of service? 1979-1984. 2002-2006. I did my part.

/johnny

20 posted on 10/24/2009 9:50:22 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

U.S. Marine Corps 1974-1978. Right on my profile page should you care to look.


21 posted on 10/24/2009 9:53:10 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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To: AZ .44 MAG
So you didn't step up and do it again after 9/11. Just the one term. Easier to bluster about tough guy stuff than actually eff up your life, cost a marriage and career, and deploy.

Yeah, I'm a chickenshit. That walked the walk.

/johnny

22 posted on 10/24/2009 9:59:28 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Dick Bachert
Just cower in the corner and await your turn.

Make me.

/johnny

23 posted on 10/24/2009 10:11:40 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper
So you didn't step up and do it again after 9/11. Just the one term. Easier to bluster about tough guy stuff than actually eff up your life, cost a marriage and career, and deploy.

In 2001 I was 45 and had been crippled for 17 years from a motorcycle accident in 1984 and another one (quad) in 2000.

The thought did cross my mind. But if the Marines would have taken me back I would question their judgment.

I still couldn't live with myself if I could save someone by acting and chose no to.

24 posted on 10/24/2009 10:12:41 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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To: AZ .44 MAG
Ok. I accept your excuse.

/johnny

25 posted on 10/24/2009 10:16:55 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Oh, sorry, I forgot. You’ll be slinking off the train. Might want to wait until it stops, however. Wouldn’t want to lose another stand-up citizen.


26 posted on 10/24/2009 11:10:19 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (THE 2010 ELECTIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFETIMES! BE THERE!!!)
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To: Dick Bachert
I'm capable of calculating relative velocities.

You, on the other hand, seem to rush ahead without a clue.

/Johnny

27 posted on 10/24/2009 11:15:22 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Dick Bachert
And I'm ready for a stand up, if you are. Slick.

/johnny

28 posted on 10/24/2009 11:17:31 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Dick Bachert
When and which service did you serve in, hero?

/johnny

29 posted on 10/24/2009 11:19:54 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

USAF, 4 years, Vietnam, SLICK!!!


30 posted on 10/24/2009 11:22:02 PM PDT by Dick Bachert (THE 2010 ELECTIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFETIMES! BE THERE!!!)
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To: Dick Bachert
You didn't list years, hero. Lets us play. ;)

I cooked for tip of the spear. Before that, I was 32653B. I can convert MOSs to USAF specialty codes.

/johnny

31 posted on 10/24/2009 11:26:39 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Red in Blue PA
I've traveled on Amtrak at least a dozen times and I've never had any problem taking a firearm on board in my carry on luggage.

None.

L

32 posted on 10/24/2009 11:28:19 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Dick Bachert
Fake.

/johnny

33 posted on 10/24/2009 11:32:52 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Dick Bachert
I have the advantage of asking for help re-enlisting right after 9/11. Here. In this forum. Getting around the deaf as a post thing.

It worked. I lost 6 years, a wife, and 32 teeth.

/johnny

34 posted on 10/24/2009 11:37:45 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: JRandomFreeper

‘62-’66 Instructor, permanent party, 3270 Technical Training Sq., U.S. Army Engineer School, then at Fort Belvoir, VA (now at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.) AFSC 22150.

Convert away.

I believe this discussion is terminated, Cookie. I’ve got more important things to do.

BTW, braveheart, too bad you don’t have the nerve to post here under your full/real name.


35 posted on 10/25/2009 7:38:55 AM PDT by Dick Bachert (THE 2010 ELECTIONS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIFETIMES! BE THERE!!!)
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To: JRandomFreeper
Ok. I accept your excuse.

/johnny

Thank goodness. I was so afraid you wouldn't like me any more.

Do try to draw fire when you slink off so the men can deal with the bad guys.

/Conversation with johnny.

36 posted on 10/26/2009 8:22:45 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (I'm Jim Thompson and I say our government is a joke and its current make up is the punch line.)
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