Posted on 05/22/2002 9:11:50 AM PDT by B. A. Conservative
As for Bush, he's throwing away 2004 - by his sellout by having idiots like Magaw and Mineta as appointees. Gun-rights activists won't turn out for him again next time if this keeps up.
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At one point he looked at the back of the aircraft (where these other men were sitting) and raised his eyebrows. Typing that now it seems so harmless - but in my heightened state of sensitivity it freaked me out. And I wasn't alone - my wife and her friend (a travel agent) noticed it too and exchanged glances with me.
As the flight was approaching Chicago I began to wonder what would happen at 30 minutes till landing. Sure enough 3 of them got up (including the man with a family). I was in a state of complete agitation because the sheer coincidence of timing (30 minutes out seems like an opportune time to do something without people being able to organize a response) was more than I was prepared to deal with. But at the same time that's when the pilot makes his announcement (usually) about being 30 minutes out and most people make a last dash for the lavatory.
Frankly, in hindsight my imagination was completely out of control but was shocked at how defensless and vulnerable I felt. I was sitting by the window with my wife and her friend between me and the aisle.
I say give the pilots a gun and let them shoot the heck out of anyone who tries to force their way into the cockpit.
The return flight was a piece of cake. I did not have near the same level of anxiety that I did on the flight up. Just the normal "I'm 35,000 feet in the air in a 15 ton piece of metal" kind of anxiety.
Oh yeah, this Magaw dork REALLY wants PRIVATE firearms to be painted as potentially beneficial, life-saving instruments in the minds of a public just about conditioned by decades of Handgun Control propaganda that they are ONLY for the murder of innocents.
NOT!!
Mr. Bush, FIRE MINETA, MACGAW and RIDGE -- TODAY (unless, of course, you agree with the Schumer, Hollings wing of the DemoCRAP party).
Think about that NEXT incident and how you're going to feel when you pull the trigger on a plane full of citizens because you refused to allow the crew that last line of defense of their ship.
This WAR of G.W.'s, tragically, is turning into the biggest farce since the one on poverty conducted by General Johnson.
That’s just one aspect of what the pilot unions were proposing. They want FLEO status for pilots. They want it for a variety of reasons, but primarily to protect them from liability. I understand that, but to me it is a deal killer. No FLEO status for pilots – that’s what I say, not that it matters any.
We already federalized the screeners. That was/is a joke. Oh, and if arming pilots is such a great common-sense security measure, why do they propose it be voluntary? Just state that within 30 days those pilots that can be properly trained, and those that can qualify to carry, can continue flying and those that can’t can look for another job – make it a condition of continued and future employment. If you were to counter the unions with that proposal I’ll bet they would drop the whole thing.
The whole issue is more of a power/member/money grab on the part of the unions, rather than a concern for the traveling public, IMO. At any rate, all you have to do is test it out to know for sure. Propose that pilots that qualify can indeed carry, without FLEO status, and that in fact they MUST carry in order to continue flying commercial planes. If they’re concerned about safety, and if they’re confident that arming pilots is a good plan, there should be no problem with it.
This is about the most stupid response that anyone could possibly make. Obviously in 99,999 flights out of every 100,000 there would be no reason for the pilot not to be focused on flying the plane. But when the need arises for a pilot to defend himself--when he is under attack by a murderous thug, intent upon killing the pilot and seizing the plane--it is obvious to every rational being (and that is probably a catagory that does not include people who work in the Department of Transportation) that the absolutely paramount need at that moment is to take out the murderous thug! If you cannot understand that, you have no business holding a pretentious sounding position as "Security Administration Director."
Of course, stupidity aside--and this man must really be stupid--the present policy is an insult to pilots, reflecting the demeaning attitude of Government in general to this once dynamic, free people. A pilot is in a position analogous to the Captain of a ship. He is supposed to be in Command of his plane during its flight. Why, in the name of a Society based upon a responsible citizenry, should anyone but he have any say as to what reasonable means he chooses to employ to protect his person and his position of authority? Do the dysrons, who probably surround the stupid Mr. Magaw, have a clue as to what personal responsibility is all about? What traditional American values are all about?
Do any of these people have any role in an American Government? Do you think that George Washington would have trusted one of these specimens of our degeneration as a political society, to tether his horse? I don't think so.
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1) the proposal was not that he would go wandering around the plane with the gun. It is a last line of defense.
2) People who commit suicide attacks prefer to succeed rather than die futiley.
3) 5% is a higher risk than 100%?
Liberals will vote for Democrats no matter how much the Republicans court them. Then the conservative base stays home on election day.
Can you say "Gore in 2004"?
I have already explained to you that it is the federal government making the laws that prevent airline pilots and citizens from carrying on an airplane.
The Constitution doesn't give you the right to do anything you want. We live in an orderly society that is based on the rule of law.
The constitution is the highest law of the land. An inferior law cannot overturn the constitution.
This isn't the old west and you ain't some cowboy gunslinger. American's don't support chaos and anarchy.
Americans do not support giving up their rights and freedoms for a false sense of security.
Open your eyes. There have been three high level federal officials in the last 48 hours say that our federal government cannot protect us from terrorist acts.
And then this same federal government says we, and now airline pilots, cannot protect ourselves on an airplane.
We all know about the Transportation Dept refusing to allow airline pilots to be armed on flights. You and I agree, pilots should be armed. The same doesn't apply to commuter passengers. They have no right, they have no absolute right, in fact, they have no absolute constitutional right, to bring firearms aboard a privately owned commerical plane. NONE! Get it through your thick skull. The sooner you come to terms with this, the better off we'll all be. I don't mind rational debate, but endless talk about some absolute right, that doesn't exist, is a waste of time and energy.
Hey, enjoy America!!! Its the greatest and freest nation on Earth.
It does. But when they're flying a regulated airline, they must follow the rules. Something your type often overlook.
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