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.

[NittanyLion]

Why don't you brush up on how our government works before making the accusation it's the President's fault?

For whom do you think Magaw and Mineta work?

[Shethink13]

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.

Oh, really Senator Hollings? So what happens when a hijacker holds a box cutter to the throat of one of the passengers or flight attendants and demands the door be opened? Wouldn't it be nice if the door opened and the hijacker was greeted with guns a-blazin'?

[tomkat]

and you might wanna brush up on #43

this decision is pure chickensh!t.

Passenger Strike indeed !

[WRhine]

Huh? With the hand-to-eye coordination it takes to do this, I would think they would be a crack shot and could find center mass fairly easily.

Good point. Also, just the fact that pilots are carrying firearms acts as a deterrent to terrorism in and of itself given that terrorists seek the most weakly defended targets. Speaking of weak, where is the backbone in this administration?

[stand watie]

too dumb to be alive. government intelligence & airline food are oxymorons!

for dixie,sw

[Musket]

Thank God I don't have to fly for my job. If pilots can't be armed I'll NEVER fly again.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Hey - they only the locked and reinforced doors were "reuired" -

Never said that they were installed, nor useable ----- until they put restrooms in all the cockpits too! And a coffee pot and lunchroom too.

The admin (Mineta!) is simply scared sh*tless over the press reaction to ONLY thing that would have prevented such hijackings.

[freeeee]

If pilots can't be armed I'll NEVER fly again.

Same here! I used to fly once or twice a year, every year.

I'm boycotting the airlines until pilots are armed and I hope every other American will as well. A pilot strike is also in order and we must be sure to support them in their efforts.

[pabianice]

Testicle check time. If pilots accept this ruling, they cannot complain when the next hijackings occur. The pilots' shutting-down the airlines for several days would create a 180 at the White House.

[contessa machiaveli]

i don't understand how any thinking human being would be against pilots having guns. someone please explain the reasoning behind this absurd decision. play devils' advocate. i need to understand.

[Hank Rearden]

Sure gettin' tired of this stupid government and this wimpy president.

What excuse do you suppose they'll trot out the next time airliner occupants are unable to defend themselves? Nobody ever pays the price for this kind of ignorance.

[jpl]

Why don't you brush up on how our government works before making the accusation it's the President's fault?

With all due respect WIMom, freeeee is 100% correct. A decision of this kind of importance is not going to be left to lower level bureaucrats. Cabinet members would not make an announcement of the policyunless the President himself gave the go-ahead.

[mattdono]

Here is one reason: because it is part of the Marxist-Socialist approach. They abhor any gun ownership. They must not allow anyone, except the government, to own guns, so they can control the population and force its will on the people.

The Marxist demoCOMMIEs are not interested in protecting the people, they are interested in controlling the people. There's a difference!

Of course, your befuddlement is not unfounded. I am more perplexed at how ANY AMERICAN can support people who are trying to tear our country down from the inside out.

[mattdono]

Unless the burueacrat is intentionally going off the reservation and doing in public. In D.C., this has been known to happen!

It also could be a "trial balloon". As FREEPERs, we need to get on the phones/faxes/emails and let the White House know that this policy is UNACCEPTABLE!

[VRWC_minion]

Bush taps longtime fed to be transportation security chief

By Preeti Vasishtha
GCN Staff

President Bush yesterday signed the recess appointment of John W. Magaw as chief of the newly created Transportation Security Administration.

The new Transportation Department office will assume all airport security functions Feb. 17, including overseeing the systems that screen baggage and passengers. Congress mandated creation of the organization after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to focus on the security of domestic transportation services.

The president nominated Magaw Dec. 10 and sent the nomination to the Senate Dec. 13.

During congressional recesses, the president can fill key political positions without the Senate’s advice and consent. Senate lawmakers still must confirm Magaw as undersecretary of Transportation for security, which an administration spokesman said would likely happen when Congress reconvenes Jan. 23.

Most recently, Magaw had been acting executive director of the Office of National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Secret Service, Magaw joined FEMA in December 1999 as senior adviser to the director for terrorism preparedness. He also had served as acting director and acting deputy director of the emergency response agency.

Magaw was ATF director from 1993 to 1999, following a 26-year stint with the Secret Service.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Magaw began his law enforcement career as a state trooper with the Ohio State Patrol in 1959. He has a bachelor's degree from Otterbein College.

[WRhine]

Both Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge previously indicated their opposition to allowing anyone to be armed.

Even more incredible is that Norm Mineta has ruled out profiling at airports EVEN IF A PERSON LOOKS SUSPICIOUS! Believe it or not. Can we assume he is following Bush's orders? This is another example that shows, contrary to WH spin, that the safety and security of the American people are NOT the highest priority of this administration.

Let's see, the Bush administration refuses to protect our borders, refuses to deport Illegal Aliens and Middle East Immigrants from Terrorist Nations, refuses to enforce our immigration laws, yet is FOR Amnesties that reward illegal aliens for breaking our laws. I'd say that this latest ruling is about par for the course with this administration.

[max61]

Politicians as a whole are scared of guns and have absolutely no idea how they are used daily to stop crime.

Politicians are afraid of guns because guns are used for assassinations, of which politicians are the primary target.

---max