Posted on 11/16/2001 1:11:13 PM PST by AStack75
Sen. John McCain Trying to Kill the Armed Pilots Provision -- Tell him to renounce his anti-gun ways
Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org
(Wednesday, November 14, 2001) -- Gun Owners of America warned you last month about Sen. John McCain of Arizona who was trying to kill the armed pilots amendment. He failed then, but now he's at it again.
As you know, both houses of Congress passed airline safety legislation with an armed pilots amendment. Under normal circumstances -- when both houses agree in principle on an issue -- that guarantees that the provision will remain in the final version of the bill. Unfortunately, Sen. McCain is on the conference committee which is tasked with ironing out the differences between the two versions, and he is reportedly trying to strip out the armed pilots language.
It is imperative that EVERYBODY get in touch with Sen. John McCain. Normally, GOA does not encourage people to contact legislators from other states. It only makes sense to lobby the congressmen that represent you. But in this case, it is appropriate for you to contact McCain. Even if he tells you that he doesn't answer mail from other states, remember one thing: John McCain is a Presidential candidate. He has national aspirations, and that means he wants to represent you no matter where you live.
ACTION: Please use the pre-written letter below to help direct your comments to Sen. McCain. You can contact him at:
Phone: 202-224-2235 Fax: 202-228-2862 E-mail: john_mccain@mccain.senate.gov
----- Pre-written message -----
Dear Sen. McCain:
Gun Owners of America tells me that you are up to your anti-gun tricks again. You've introduced legislation to ban private gun sales at gun shows unless the gun buyer is willing to submit to a background registration check. You have introduced Incumbent Protection legislation to punish groups like GOA for criticizing candidates before an election.
Now I hear that you are trying to neutralize the armed pilots amendment in the aviation security act. Shame! Guns are the best way for pilots to defend their planes, crews and passengers. If we are to trust pilots with our lives while aboard, why should we not trust them to utilize the best tool available to prevent hijackings?
It has been reported that you would rather have pilots armed with stun guns. Are you serious? Stun guns require the attacker to be right on top of you before you can use them. And tasers, which launch a remote probe up to 15 feet, can be thwarted by heavy clothing. So if the pilot misses on the first shot at a distance of 15 feet, the pilot is dead.
Please don't push any such "Dead Pilots" amendment as a defense against terrorists. If stun guns and tasers are so effective, then why don't cops around the country trade in their guns for these items?
Make no mistake, the pilots themselves want to defend themselves with real guns. At least four local pilot unions have passed resolutions around the country stating they will strike if they are not allowed to defend their planes and passengers with firearms. You can read about this for yourself at http://www.gunowners.org/op0142.htm on the web.
I hope you will not try to thwart the will of the Congress. Both houses have passed sensible air safety provisions that would permit pilots to arm themselves for our common defense against terrorism. That language deserves to go to the President for his signature.
Sincerely,
*****************
If you are a pilot, or if you know a pilot, please take a look at the above-mentioned resolution which has been passed by several local unions. The resolution states that pilots will refuse to fly unless they are able to carry firearms into the cockpits of their planes.
It has been passed by several ALPA Councils, and is being considered across the nation by numerous Councils at both ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association) and APA (the Allied Pilots Association). It has passed at United's Los Angeles Council, at Alaska's Seattle Council, at Delta's Cincinnati Council, and at a Continental/Express Council in Houston.
If you have any further questions, or any election results relating to other councils, please contact United Airlines Capt. Bob Giuda at giuda.family@getglobal.net via e-mail. Giuda, who is also a New Hampshire state representative, has been spearheading the efforts to get this resolution passed by local pilot unions.
************** Please do not reply directly to this message, as your reply will bounce back as undeliverable.
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It has been a rough week for ground war McAinal, and now he is going against the majority of Americans on this. Even liberals for the most part are for the pilots and co pilots carrying weapons.
His land war stand, this stand plus his biased finance reform stand are proof that he hates America and the conservative approach/solution to any problem! He is truly a dangerous man to most Americans with the stands that he takes!
I really doubt we could (or would) put an armed marshall on every flight, which means either armed passengers or armed airline employees.
I thought that our military men were required to avoid capture and that the gun was one of the tools that would help an attacked military pilot. Why would McCain believe that the pilot of a commercial airliner is any less obligated to avoid capture by an enemy of the US?
One of our gun buffs will have to help here, but I believe that quite a few demonicRats are pro guns re airline pilots. Particuliarly those who like Boxer/Chifi have to fly long distances to get from their homes to DC!
Pistols can be issued to every pilot who wants one and is trained in their use in a day. Redesigning the airlines' fleets will take years. QED.
Come on, get real. I'm terribly disappointed and upset with McMarbles, but he is hardly the "most dangerous anti-American senator in the history of our country" nor is he currently "the most dangerous anti-American senator," unless you wish to eliminate Daschole, Hitlery, Boxer, Levin, Biden, Kennedy, Kerry, Sarbanes, and the entirety of the democrat senators.
Better and more accurate for you to state, that McMarbles is the "most anti-Republican, GOP senator in the senate."
McMarbles is NOT anti-American, nor anti-military. John is a spoiled brat; a megalomanical and bitter recalcitrant, who lusts for media face time, indulging himself at every opportunity, particualrly the opportunities he creates.
John will never "get-over" his loss to President Bush. John will never "forgive" GOP voters for rejecting him. He will also never be made to understand "why" we rejected him, after all, the media just "loved" him ---- he is sooo "centrist" and "straight-talking." Garbage. John says what John "knows" the media wants to hear, and damn the GOP voters for not falling in line!
John would be president now, had he run to the right of Bush. Some "maverick."
WE are on the same page, regarding McCain. But your comments are over the top.
IF Boxer supports arming the pilots, she had better think again, since most pilots are Republicans and do not "embrace" her commie politics.
There is no expectation on my part that the pilots would use the weapons for anything other than preserving life. That would mean landing the plane safely despite the attempts of any hijacker to use the airplane as a missile to kill thousands of people on the ground.
A recent article detailed how it took about ten minutes for people with crowbars to open a gun safe at Sears after a small boy was locked inside it.
I put my faith in people looking after their own interests and not in "one-size-fits-all" solutions. The security doors are an excellent idea and a preliminary version is already installed on all of the nations airliners. Improvements will follow.
The cost of the security doors will undoubtedly be measured in at least many tens of thousands of dollars each. The cost of supplying a firearm to a pilot who already owns one is simply the courage to trust a person to have a gun who is already entrusted with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of airliner and the lives of hundreds of passengers.
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