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Bunning and Wilson Set to Knock Down Hurdles to Arming Pilots
Gun Owners of America ^ | January 23, 2004 | NA

Posted on 01/23/2004 6:21:20 AM PST by neverdem

Bunning and Wilson Set to Knock Down Hurdles to Arming Pilots Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 Friday, January 23, 2004

For two years in a row, Congress has overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow armed pilots to use firearms to protect their crews and passengers -- and innocent victims on the ground.

Tragically, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) -- which has no problem scrambling fighters to shoot down passenger airplanes -- continues to drag its feet at the common-sense notion that American citizens should be allowed to defend themselves, rather than being shot out of the sky by military jets.

The TSA has erected numerous hurdles to discourage qualified pilots from applying to carry firearms. GOA last year reported how one TSA attorney boasted his agency "intends to make the [armed pilots] program so difficult, intimidating and burdensome that no pilot will volunteer."

He was almost correct. Some pilots have volunteered, but very few. Of the nation's 33,000 daily flights, only a fraction of a percent have armed pilots guarding the controls to the planes.

Fortunately, Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) will shortly introduce legislation to force TSA to eliminate these hurdles.

The Bunning-Wilson bill will ensure that 70% of eligible pilots can be certified within half a year. Even though an overwhelming majority of pilots have had military or law-enforcement training, the TSA requires these (and other) applicants to travel to a very remote training facility in New Mexico, on their own dime and own time.

The Bunning-Wilson bill will arm these qualified pilots, virtually overnight, and it will allow all pilots to be trained at private facilities located all over the country.

The bill will also stop TSA from using redundant tests solely for the purpose of discrediting clearly qualified applicants. Right now, the TSA is running pilot applicants through a psychological "gauntlet" that is more rigorous than what the vast majority of Air Marshals had to endure.

Pilots must already pass psychological exams every year to fly a plane. If pilots are competent to fly a plane, why can't TSA trust them to carry a gun?

Finally, the Bunning-Wilson bill prevents anti-gun bureaucrats from promoting rules which would deny certified pilots access to their firearms. Currently, TSA regs require pilots to "lock up their safety" during the very times they would be most vulnerable to attack (such as any time the cockpit door is opened).

Pilots say this is the number one reason they are NOT applying to carry firearms in the cockpit. Why run the TSA gauntlet, only to be forced to lock up the firearm when it is most critically needed?

Over the next several days, Sen. Bunning and Rep. Wilson will be soliciting original cosponsors for their legislation -- senators and representatives whose names will appear on the original versions of the bills.

ACTION: Please contact your senators and congressman. Ask them to sign on as original cosponsors of the "Cockpit Security Technical Corrections and Improvements Act of 2004." The legislation will not be assigned a number until it is introduced.

You can contact your legislators by visiting the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send them a pre-written e-mail message.

------ Pre-written message ------ Dear ______________:

Shortly, Senator Jim Bunning and Congressman Joe Wilson will be introducing the "Cockpit Security Technical Corrections and Improvements Act of 2004." This legislation will empower pilots to use firearms to protect themselves, their passengers, their crews and innocent civilians on the ground.

It would do this by dramatically stepping up the training and certification of armed pilots. It would also require that the firearm be available to the certified pilot for the protection of himself and others.

It is essential that Congress eliminate the hurdles which have been erected by the Transportation Security Administration -- hurdles which are keeping many qualified pilots from protecting their planes.

In recent weeks and months, Americans have seen news stories showing how our nation's airports are still quite porous -- even while terrorist organizations are threatening to hijack more planes. In October, a college student admitted he hid various weapons on board several planes, and, just recently, a Sudanese man got five rounds of ammunition past airport screeners at Dulles Airport, near the nation's capital.

It is very important that our airplanes be adequately defended, so I urge you to add your name as an original cosponsor to this bill. Please let me know what you intend to do. Thank you.

Sincerely,

**************************** Stop Supporting the Big Anti-gun Internet Service Providers! The parent companies of AOL / Time Warner / Compuserve, Sprint / Mindspring / Earthlink, and Southwestern Bell / Prodigy -- just to name a few -- have all given money in the past to Sarah Brady. Now, there is an ISP dedicated to gun rights and the sporting life. Plus a portion of your monthly fee will be donated to GOA. By switching to Outdoors Unlimited, you move money away from the Brady Bunch and to the fight for the Second Amendment. Check out http://www.outdoorsunlimited.net and consider switching your Internet service today.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Kentucky; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: airseclist; armedpilots; bang; banglist; goa; jimbunning; joewilson; tsa
Mineta must retire!
1 posted on 01/23/2004 6:21:23 AM PST by neverdem
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To: fourdeuce82d; Travis McGee; Joe Brower
BANG
2 posted on 01/23/2004 6:22:44 AM PST by neverdem (Xin loi min oi)
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To: neverdem
Support this bill and tell the TSA bureaucrats to stop gumming up the one step that can prevent another 9-11. All of our nation's pilots should have been armed by now. Oh and let's give Norman Mineta the boot.
3 posted on 01/23/2004 6:24:36 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: neverdem
Jim Bunning used to be a baseball player.
4 posted on 01/23/2004 6:31:19 AM PST by waterstraat
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To: *bang_list; *AirSec_List
IIRC, Mineta is already out of there, and some ex-AF officer ("Loy", I think) is now in charge. Nothing changed, however.

Click the Gadsden flag for pro-gun resources!

5 posted on 01/23/2004 6:32:18 AM PST by Joe Brower ("We all declare for liberty: but in using the same word, we do not mean the same thing.")
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To: neverdem
Mineta must retire!

He never should have been left in that position. Bush trying to suck up to the Democrats has cost this country dearly. He has managed to offset all of his good deeds with things like leaving an incompetent like Mineta in place.

6 posted on 01/23/2004 6:37:36 AM PST by FreePaul
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To: Joe Brower
Admiral Loy has been Deputy Under Secretary for Transportation Security for over a year and a half. Mineta is still in charge and Loy hasn't done anything but make air travel more difficult for passengers and crew members alike. It's time that our representatives took charge instead of letting bureaucrats run the country.
7 posted on 01/23/2004 6:47:45 AM PST by FreePaul
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To: FreePaul
Agreed re:Mineta. Sadly GWB left far too many Klintonites in office. He should have trash-canned ALL of them!
8 posted on 01/23/2004 7:19:27 AM PST by donozark
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To: FreePaul
Thanks, FreePaul. In that case...


9 posted on 01/23/2004 7:36:06 AM PST by Joe Brower ("We all declare for liberty: but in using the same word, we do not mean the same thing.")
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To: neverdem
Worth pushing.
10 posted on 01/23/2004 7:53:12 AM PST by marktwain
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To: neverdem
Great news! Let's get this passed & on the president's desk.
11 posted on 01/23/2004 8:06:07 AM PST by Republic If You Can Keep It
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To: neverdem
Bill Frist, Lamar Alexander, and Marsha Blackburn have all heard from me.
12 posted on 01/23/2004 3:06:08 PM PST by MainFrame65
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To: 2A Patriot; 2nd amendment mama; 4everontheRight; 77Jimmy; AJ Insider; AlligatorEyes; Amanda King; ..

SC Ping List

FReepmail me if you want on or off this list.
13 posted on 01/24/2004 7:24:14 AM PST by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: SC Swamp Fox
This should not be necessary, the administration should have taken care of this itself. It's about time this gets taken care of.
14 posted on 01/24/2004 8:08:45 AM PST by looscnnn ("Live free or die; death is not the worst of evils" Gen. John Stark 1809)
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To: looscnnn
Agreed....Bush has left most of the entrenched bureaucracy untouched.
15 posted on 01/24/2004 8:22:20 AM PST by SC Swamp Fox (Aim small, miss small.)
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To: neverdem
The TSA is a pathetic joke.
16 posted on 01/25/2004 3:44:38 PM PST by Stew Padasso (Head down over a saddle.)
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