Posted on 09/08/2002 12:57:32 PM PDT by GailA
Editorial 9/08: Keep the friendly skies free of guns
September 8, 2002
A LOPSIDED Senate majority favors the idea, but there is still time to reconsider arming airline pilots - a move that would give some Americans a false sense of security and give others second thoughts about flying.
Ideological arguments, fueled by lobbying efforts of the National Rifle Association, clearly prevailed last week when the Senate voted 87-6 to allow more than 85,000 passenger and cargo airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit.
The proposal essentially would force airlines to allow pilots to carry guns if they wished to do so, but only after they underwent appropriate training.
Rules against the practice were in place long before 1987, when pilots were first required to pass through metal detectors. Prior to that time, pilots who felt more secure with a firearm had to secretly pack guns in their flight bags.
Because of the suicidal nature of last September's terrorist hijackings, pilots say they can no longer depend on their wits to get them through a hijacking incident. They need a weapon.
One of the dangers in accepting this approach is that it could lead to complaisance in much more important areas.
The emphasis now should be on the fortification of cockpit doors and the installation of security enhancing equipment, such as video cameras that would permit occupants of the cockpit to see what is going on immediately to the rear.
Another problem is, simply, the introduction of guns into the environment.
Allowing pilots to carry guns tells would-be hijackers where a weapon can be obtained in-flight. And police annals are filled with accounts of officers killed with their own weapons or bystanders shot with guns wrestled away from overpowered officers.
The assailant in an airplane doesn't have to be a hijacker. As every police officer knows, a drunk or deranged person represents a serious threat if he or she manages to snatch a sidearm from its holster.
Carrying a gun gives pilots one more thing to worry about and protect. It is a distracting presence that could interfere with the operation of a large, sophisticated piece of machinery and endanger lives.
But the idea has now been approved by the House and Senate, in both cases in the form of an amendment to bills that would create a Department of Homeland Security, and in both cases by significant, veto-proof margins.
There are differences in the two versions of the Homeland Security bill that are not likely to be resolved for weeks, however, and that leaves time to consider the ramifications of arming pilots.
Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), arguing for the bill, cited the 1994 incident in which FedEx pilot Auburn Calloway, riding as a "jump-seat" passenger, attacked the crew of a FedEx DC10 with a hammer after takeoff in Memphis.
Would the Calloway attack have had a better resolution if one or more of the pilots had been carrying a sidearm when Calloway launched his surprise attack in the cockpit? Or would things have turned out worse?
Arming pilots would come with an expensive training program - apparently to be borne by taxpayers, as the Senate bill specifies that neither the airlines nor the pilots can be charged for the training or equipment.
The Transportation Security Administration and the airlines have registered their opposition to the move. TSA director John Magaw has been more open to the idea of pilots and crew members carrying nonlethal weapons, such as stun guns or collapsible metal batons.
The idea of arming pilots with guns is considered "ill-advised" by Frederick W. Smith, chair man and chief executive officer of FedEx Corp., who joined Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson and 19 other airline executives who outlined their concerns in a letter to senators last week.
As a spokesman for the 50,000-member Association of Flight Attendants put it, before that organization reversed its position on the issue: "A gun locked up behind a reinforced door does nothing to protect people in the cabin."
That's the idea. I haven't flown since the 9-11, but I might consider it again when pilots are armed.
I strongly disagree. Being armed is one less contingent to be unprepared for. Were I a commercial pilot, no gun, no fly. As a commercial passenger, I won't fly until the pilots are armed.
You could say the same about cops. Should we strip the police of guns? It's time to stop the "siege" mentality and go on the offense. Pilots shouldn't have to create a bastion in the cockpit. All they need is a "do not enter" sign on the door and a weapon to back up the order.
Common sense may not be dead....but I think it must be on life support.
Cripes. "People must not arm themselves because somebody might disarm them."
3,000 people got killed last year when some PLANES got "wrestled away" from their crews. I'd prefer giving crew a chance to USE their guns, STOP a hijacker, and SAVE their aircraft, passengers, and selves.
Instead of requiring procedures for the termination of pilots and their access to the flight line after termination, the FAA imposed the firearms ban.
..anything the writer, in this case the editorial board, wants the police annals to be filled with. It is time to put this old canard to rest and require statistic with reference when "police annals" are cited as a source of credibility for the editorial. This is lazy writing on the part of the newspaper.
the NRA has been involved from the start. It helps to read "The American Rifleman" or go to one of their web sites to find out the progress of the Bills.
This is hilarious since now the Attendents are demanding to be armed.
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