[JFoxbear]

"The cockpit is the key fortress. If it falls, all is lost. Arms kept within the fortress cannot be used by terrorists outside unless those terrorists have already breached the defenses. By contrast, arms outside could easily be taken since planes have insufficient room to allow armed people to protect themself from surprise attacks."

While I surely agree that the cockpit should be well defended, and that Pilots should be free to carry sidearms, I'd like to ask:

What group of Hijackers would attempt to gain control of a Jetliner, if it became common knowledge that an armed citizenry was free to carry their own sidearms while on Airplanes?

It seems to me, that guns should'nt be banned from air travel... only certain types of ammo, should be banned. All citizens who are armed, should check their weaponry through security, and only authorized ammo should be allowed on the plane. In this way, any would be terrorist plot, would certainly fail. The terrorist's wouldn't have a clue which passenger might start blasting first, or which ones might join in the fray!

The threat of Hijacking Airplanes would be history! at little or no cost to the taxpayers or the Airline industry. They could even make some money... charging a few bucks more for flight insurance to passengers who are packing heat!

[William Tell]

JFoxbear said: "What group of Hijackers would attempt to gain control of a Jetliner, if it became common knowledge that an armed citizenry was free to carry their own sidearms while on Airplanes?"

Exactly. I have never heard of a shooting at a gun show. There have been some suicides at gun ranges, but the only armed attack I have heard of locally ended when a customer used his own firearm to shoot the perpetrator. The owner of a local gun store wears one of those hunting vests. Gee, I wonder why?