U.S. Won't Allow Guns in Cockpits

AP ^ | 2-21-2002 | JONATHAN D. SALANT

[Cagey]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government said Tuesday that pilots will not be allowed to have guns in the cockpits of commercial airplanes.

The announcement was made at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing by John Magaw, undersecretary for transportation security. It followed months of debate over whether arming pilots would be a deterrent to hijackers.

Both Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge previously indicated their opposition to arming pilots.

Magaw gave no reason for his decision, which was announced in response to a question from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the committee.

Magaw said a formal announcement will be made later in the week.

Airline pilots have been pushing for guns, saying it would allow them to confront a hijacker who breaks into the cockpit. Hijackers took over four commercial airlines on Sept. 11, crashing two of them into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

Flight attendants, meanwhile, have advocated nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns, that they could use in emergencies.

Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., who chairs the Commerce Committee, said guns would not be needed as long as pilots kept cockpit doors locked while in flight.

"You can put the rule in right now and cut out all the argument about pistols and stun guns," Hollings said.

Opponents of arming pilots have said reinforced cockpit doors now required on all planes mean that pistols are unnecessary. They have also expressed concern that an errant shot might hit a passenger or damage a key electrical system on the plane.

Two House Republicans have introduced legislation to arm pilots and the House Transportation Committee is scheduled to take up the bill this week.

[Clandestine]

No one should act surprised. This decision was made by John Magaw former director of the BATF. He doesn't want anyone but the police state armed. After all it was one of his lieutenants who advocated perjury by BATF agents giving testimony on the witness stand to get a conviction.

The question should not be what GW knew before 9/11 but why is Bush leaving Clinton cronies in high places?

Clinton probably knows more about government activities than Bush thru daily briefings!

[Bobby777]

our elected leaders are total idiots ... total wimps and idiots ...

[kcpopps]

Time for a pilot strike.

--And if that doesn't work, a passenger strike.

---Agree and agree!

Add another big BUMP to that.

[88keys]

What are the odds that an "errant shot" would damage the plane's controls so badly that it would crash? (I discount the "errant shot striking a passenger" argument, since while that would be a shame, it would be more of a shame for a terrorist to bring the whole plane down.)

Walter Williams just commented that many airline pilots are ex-military, and there is that very good point about eye-hand co-ordination, not to mention the ability to concentrate successfully on a very complex task!

Finally, what's the significance of today's announcement from Mineta and Ridge? Surely they're not the "final word" here? My theory: this is a "prod" to get Congress to pass a law, which is probably what it would take, and likely what the Prez. really wants...

[archy]

No problem- I just won't fly commercial, even though I can do so for free due to my employment. And I'll let my employer know why I'm taking AMTRAK or driving on my vacations instead.

Northwest Airlines ID# 1088XXX

-archy-/-

[Capitalist Eric]

Morons! 4 airliners full of people would have landed safely on September 11 if only one of the pilots would have had a gun.

Or if passengers were still allowed to carry knives.

I've logged a lot of miles, always carried a 3.5" locking pocket knife in my pocket. Always razor-sharp, was never stopped. It accompanied me on every flight I've ever had, including the disarmed state of Great Britain, and the formerly-communist Romania. Nobody ever said "boo" to me about it, and I insisted on being armed, even though it's a small comfort.

Had other passengers felt the same way, and actively carried knives... The events of 9/11 would NOT have transpired. This is not a claim that I could have single-handedly stopped all the terrorists on a given plane (quite unlikely, actually), but these fanatics never would have succeeded against an entire plane armed and opposing them, no matter how fanatical they were. There would have simply been 19 dead loons, that's all...

Arm the pilots, arm all the passengers.

A well-armed society, is a polite society, you know???

[ru4liberty]

I say passenger strike first. That will get the attention of the airlines who may follow suit, but surely will get the attention of the feds who need to see an angry nation rise up and say "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take this anymore." It infuriates me that they treat us like children. And you know what???...

I am mad as hell.

xxx

[Gem]

However,they are going to provide free phone calls, so you can have your plane shot down.

Seems reasonable!!!! IDIOTS!!!

[freeeee]

what the Prez. really wants...

Yeah, keeping pilots from being armed is part of an ingenious plan to arm pilots.

And black is white
And up is down
And war is peace
And freedom is slavery
And ignorance is strength.

[ru4liberty]

I'm steaming...

[Dave Olson]

I wonder how many will die in the back of the plane because of this anti-second ammendment bill. An armed pilot could save the passengers, too.

Exactly. Flight crews have been telling us all along that their #1 priority is the safety of their passengers.
How in the world can they possibly protect the passengers, if they are denied the means of protecting
even themselves?

[88keys]

No, no, you misunderstood! (or I mis-explained my "theory"!) I was trying to say that the Prez. sent the "underlings" with the "rule announcement" to the Congress to prod them into having to pass a law to arm pilots...that's why he didn't announce the "no guns rule" himself. He doesn't support it, and wants the Congress-critters to duke it out with the F.A.A.

Of course, maybe it's not a very good theory...!

[TomGuy]

"I will not authorize firearms in the cockpit," John Magaw

As the Administration's Sunday Morning talking heads reinterated "inevitable" and "not if, but when."

As National Guards at LAX had guns, but weren't trusted to carry bullets.

As the NYPD plans to issue roll call alerts to rank-and-file cops to be on the lookout for suicide bombers.

As 25 or more Middle Easterners were known to have slipped into the country in March-April and have disappeared.

When do we get to the point of being pro-active, rather than re-active? The enemy has made it clear for a decade -- with their fatwah's and their actions -- that their goal is to kill Americans and destroy America. When are we going to comprehend that and respond to them as enemies bent on our destruction?