Posted on 05/21/2002 7:34:17 AM PDT by 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.
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.
The ATA, which is the DC lobbying group for the managements of the airline companies, has been opposed to arming pilots from the very beginning. To them, the bottom line is program costs, recurrent training costs, and accident financial liability. This is an election year, and they have made their positions known through political contributions. Don't forget that the ATA opposed screening all bags for bombs, and pairing bags with domestic passengers. They also are currently suing the FAA to overturn its ruling that prevents pilots from working more than a 16 hour day.
What is ironic is that airline pilots are largely former military officers who have previously qualified with firearms, passed numerous security clearances and background checks, and have voted 90% plus Republican. Unfortunately for them, however, their main union--ALPA-- belongs to the AFL-CIO. The sends a red flag to the current administration and many of its supporters.
Through deceptive tactics and public ignorance, ATA's strategy combined with the administration's support has been successful. When they argued, for example, that pilots would be too distracted from their flying duties to use a firearm to defend the cockpit, no one asked how distracting to a pilot it would be to have his/hers throat slashed. When Mr. Ridge ridiculously stated that "if we arm the pilots, where do we stop? Next the bus drivers and train engineers will want guns", nobody asked him how many people could be murdered and how many WTC's could be destroyed by a hijacked bus or train.
Three thousand dead wasn't enough.
Mr. Mineta-Everyone is aware that we currently have air marsalls on less than 50% of commercial airline flights.Not to allow the pilots to be armed will prove to be a grave mistake.This decision needs to be reconsidered.And,please advise President Bush- who I voted for and have supported on many issues- that the Clintonesque trick of having a three levels down flunky reveal a bad,unpopular decision is beneath him.Everyone knows at what level a serious decision such as this is made.And,this is a BAD one.
command decision - save the unit.
Magaw was ATF director from 1993 to 1999, following a 26-year stint with the Secret Service.
That's what I was wracking my old brain searching for... Magaw used to head BATF. And (no surprise here) now he says he's against pilots having guns in the cockpit. He's also against pilots having guns in their own homes, I'll bet.
Sorry, Mr. Magaw... but your opinion is worthless to me. You headed up a government agency that ran wild in the 90s, trampling my rights as a free citizen. I have no respect for your opinion on anything.
The No-Guns-In-The-Cockpit policy.
Here are the others from a previous post:
The Farm Bill is is just one more reason why I'm angry with W.
Here are the other reasons:
Is there anybody out there?
Or should I say "beam me up!"
There are already procedures in place for foreign air marshalls that could be applied to foreign pilots. Weapons stay on the plane in lockboxes, unless all crew leave the plane, in which case, weapons are checked in with airport police.
Or he just, quite sensibly, decided to ignore you. How about that? Self declaration of "victory" is in the rules of NO form of debate.
I see no problem with the pilots however, your personal gun is for your personal self-defense. Just because you have carry permit that does not make you a credible defender of other people and no one on that plane has delegated that to you. 95% of all carry permit holders have NO idea how they would react in a hijack situation. They may pull the gun and then get buck fever or just empty the magazine at every thing in sight. I have a carry permit and I have a very strong opinion that if needed I could kill another person but I may not and most people cannot honestly say they could either.
I agree totally. I'm not flying until those bozos recognize my Right to be armed and my Right to defend myself.
Is this the guy who led the charge at Ruby Ridge or Waco?"
John Magaw - Lies, Inc.: Meet the New Magaw
"In the past decade, ATF agents have served over 10,000 search warrants. Not one of them has led to any finding of constitutional violations by an employee acting outside the scope or his or her authority."
John Magaw - Source
"I don't feel we should have lethal weapons in the cockpit,"
Norman Mineta - Source
Tom Ridge - Says Terrorism Is Permanent
Ridge comment on pilots out of step
"I don't think we want to equip our pilots with firearms, That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Where would it end?"
Tom Ridge - Source
"That’s why I’m for instant background checks at gun shows. I’m for trigger locks."
George W. Bush - Source: St. Louis debate Oct 17, 2000.
"W. Wimps Out on Guns"
The Bush package includes several pet causes of the gun-control lobby, including $75 million for gun locks; $15.3 million for 113 new federal attorneys to serve as full-time gun prosecutors; and $19.1 million to expand a program by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms aimed at preventing youths from obtaining guns. Although Bush stressed that he simply wants to "enforce existing laws," the fine print of Project Safe echoes the gun-grabbing Left's call to ban the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips."
LAURA BUSH:
"During her San Diego speech, for instance, she said nothing about the school shooting that occurred 20 miles away in El Cajon the day before, although in a television interview she condemned it, adding that she thinks more gun control laws are needed.
"I think that's very important," she said when asked by CNN whether stronger gun laws are needed."
Source
Project Safe Neighborhoods, A Closer Look
NEA Resource Text Guide In Regards To The Extreme Right -Where Do Your Kids Go To School?
"The radical right says it is pro-life but it bitterly opposes gun control legislation"
Mandatory Gun Show Background Check Act
Republican help - What are friends for?
Gun Owners Group Takes Aim at Lott (Treason On 2ndAmd, Gungrab Sununu Vs Patriot GunChampion Smith)
RON PAUL: "PILOTS vs. BUREAUCRATS"
The Supreme Court Will Never Safeguard Your Gun Rights
EMERSON & THE SECOND AMENDMENT
DOJ briefs to the Supreme Court that we've been reading about (Emerson, etc)
Justice Department's legal opinion on Second Amendment is "politically schizophrenic,"
"Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people,"
George W. Bush - Source
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