He he heeeeee...
Posted on 07/23/2002 10:32:36 AM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said on Tuesday that his new security chief was exploring options to arm pilots with guns two months after the agency said it would not permit them in the cockpit.
Mineta told a congressional hearing the Transportation Security Administration was now studying strategies for giving pilots lethal force, although he restated he was personally opposed to doing so.
While it was unclear if Mineta would propose such a policy, Congress is moving forward with legislation to arm more than 70,000 commercial pilots on a voluntary basis as a last line of defense against any hijacking attempts.
That legislation would require the Transportation Department to carry out the plan.
Mineta has favored stun guns -- weapons that emit an electrical charge to temporary disable an attacker -- over firearms but has not made a decision whether to give flight crews the option of non-lethal force.
United Airlines has purchased stun guns and has trained its pilots to use them. Stun-gun detractors say they are unreliable and impractical in the face of multiple attackers.
"It is under discussion in terms of should we take another approach," Mineta said of possibly approving a plan that would arm pilots with firearms.
"I have asked (TSA Administrator James Loy) to take a look at this to see whether or not there is some alternative even if it is lethal weapons," Mineta told the House of Representatives aviation subcommittee.
John Magaw, Loy's predecessor who was ousted from his job last week, told a Senate panel in May that the TSA would not permit firearms in the cockpit because of security and safety reasons.
Magaw had said other security steps, like stronger cockpit doors and undercover air marshals aboard aircraft, were sufficient to protect the plane and its passengers.
Mineta said that arming pilots under the program proposed in a bill passed by the House earlier this month could cost $850 million to establish and more than $250 million per year to carry out.
The Senate has yet to act on bills proposed in that chamber to arm pilots with guns.
I suspected something along these lines when Magaw left suddenly...
Creating safer skies without further inconveniencing passengers will instantly raise confidence and ticket sales.
How about nationwide CCW reciprocity, so that trusted citizens (not just cops) can carry everywhere? We have reciprocity for auto licenses, so why not CCW's?
Why would it cost a penny??
Seems to me that the insurance industry would jump at the chance to save their $50 million insured plane, and the hundreds of millions in death benefits.
Oh, that's right, the government gave about a billion dollars of taxpayers' money to the airlines because the airlines -- in "bed" with the government -- didn't arm their pilots and thus shot themselves in the foot -- so to speak.
Which airline would you fly: the airline that advertises its pilots are armed or the airline that doesn't arm their pilots? Oh, that's right, government regulation prohibits an airline from advertising its safety records... fewest crashes per 1,000,000 flights, fewest hijackings -- you get the idea.
Imagine that after 9-11 an airline, say for example, South West airline was to advertise that they have always armed all their pilots. They'd deserve the sudden increase in customers that United and American airlines didn't consider worth protecting.
Insurance companies would be justified in raising their airline premiums if pilots aren't armed. If the pilots aren't armed the airline is neglecting to protect the passengers -- its customers -- the lifeblood of the business.
That's how a private airline market should operate free of government intervention. Politicians and bureaucrats aren't the smartest people in the world and they do know how to create an endless torrent of new laws and regulations each year. Many implemented in the airline and aircraft industries. They, parasitical politicians and self-serving bureaucrats don't solve problems--they create problems that need not exist.
He he heeeeee...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.