GUNS IN COCKPITS

Nealz Nuze ^ | 1/15/2003 | Neal Boortz

[Dan Evans]

You do remember the flap over allowing pilots to have guns in the cockpits of commercial airliners, don't you? Finally the FAA gave its blessings and the TSA started trying to figure out how this would be done. Now we're learning that the process of approving pilots for firearms is moving slowly, and the Bush Administration and the TSA seems to be making a conscious effort to make it just as tough on the pilots as possible.

1. The site for pilot firearms training is in a remote area of New Mexico. 2. Pilots must pay their own way to and from the training site. 3. Pilots must pay for their rooms and for all food during the weeklong training session 4. Pilots must take unpaid leave from work while the training is being conducted. 5. The training includes intrusive psychological exams.

And ... get this ... the TSA is actually disqualifying many of the pilots who apply. Think about that for a second. The FAA says that you are psychologically balanced and skilled enough to command the cockpit of a commercial airliner with over 200 people in the back, and then the TSA says you aren't fit to have a firearm handy to protect that cockpit from a terrorist. Add to this the irrationality of the anti-gun fools. They don't want pilots to have guns because they're afraid that some innocent passengers might be injured in a gunfight with terrorists; but if the terrorists take over the aircraft because the pilots had no means to defend the cockpit all of the passengers will die when an Air Force fighter shoots the plane down. Why is it so difficult for the anti-gun crowd in this country to engage in rational thought?

[kylaka]

Why is it so difficult for the anti-gun crowd in this country to engage in rational thought

Though I hate to say it, the same might be said about President Bush. He should be taking the lead on this. If the pilots on 9-11 had been armed, September 11th would be just another day on the calendar.

[The_Eaglet]

Ensign favors end to all limits on campaign spending-Campaign Finance Reform thread-day 36

[Dan Evans]

ping

[e_castillo]

bump!

[taxcontrol]

Simple solution:

Congress should pass a bill that says to the effect, if a pilot has a CCW license from their home state the pilot is permitted to carry aboard the aircraft.

And the TSA shall pass the pilot, once the pilot provides photo id issued by the state or federal government and and a copy of the CCW permit / license.

Pilots must provide their own firearms and ammunition.

Pilots can not be proscuted for firearms violations by the state as long as the pilot keeps the firearm secure (locked container) outside the airport.

No expense to the government, pilots are armed, planes are safer.

[robjna]

at the airport in Milwaukee, i have figured out the pre-requirements ot be a TSA agent. first off , all men must have at minimum 5 inches of gut hanging over their belt, you must be able to sweat profusely at any exertion, your pants must be re-adjusted up anytime you bend over and you must have sat at the geek table in high school.
I had my cigar lighter packed in my checked luggage when i got a page back to luggage screen. i was told they were going to confiscate my lighter (which i paid 120 dollars for) i said bullshit, hand it over , i'll bring it back to my car . then iasked why they would'nt let it in my suitcase , they said because it was propane. when i said i have packed it inmy suitcase for two years since 9/11, they got all huffy with me and started their geek stammer so i dropped it. #@#%# losers. Then i get to gate where i have to show my ID and my boarding pass , which i do , then , as i approach the carry-on x-ray i am asked for my boarding pass again, when i say i just showed it 30 seconds ago to the highly dedicated and motivated federal employee standing 15 feet away she says she is looking for something else that that one is not assigned to look at. God help us and the dumbing down of America

[Dan Evans]

Congress should pass a bill that says to the effect, if a pilot has a CCW license from their home state the pilot is permitted to carry aboard the aircraft.

Good idea. But I would extend the privilege to passengers with CCW permits also.

[Mulder]

Good idea. But I would extend the privilege to passengers with CCW permits also.

I agree, but the statists running our government will never agree to it.

[Dan Evans]

I agree, but the statists running our government will never agree to it.

True, but it's something we ought to shoot for (so to speak).

[southland]

POST # 8:: Good point. What good is a weapon in a locked bag at home if your aircraft is taken over by Islamic leaning people. Who determined that pilots were not capable of protecting their aircraft in the first place??

Pilots don't want to be killed any more than non Islamic passengers.
I know a former Eastern Airlines Captain who went through xray security with a .38 on his hip perhaps 30+ years ago with out seting off the alarm. This was in the early days of hijacking to Cuba.

[El Gato]

I agree, but the statists running our government will never agree to it.

They'll never agree to allowing pilots to be armed based on state CCW/CHL permit either, so might as well wish for something that would really put the kibosh on the terrorists. If they weren't actualy against the whole idea of armed civilians (never mind that most of the pilots are ex military, and many are current reservists), they'd have passed or constructed a simpler program in the first place.

President Bush, and Tom Ridge, appointed a 6 year, Clinton years in fact, director of the BATF, John McGaw, as the first head of TSA, which certainly shows the direction of their thinking. McGaw defended the BATF's actions (entrapment according to a jury) in the Ruby Ridge debacle.

[Mulder]

President Bush, and Tom Ridge, appointed a 6 year, Clinton years in fact, director of the BATF, John McGaw, as the first head of TSA, which certainly shows the direction of their thinking.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Bush is just as anti-gun and anti-Bill of Rights as his predacessors. Reagan being the exception.

[yarddog]

I am afraid you are correct on all counts.