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| Allowing pilots to carry guns might prevent other steps. Really. |
| 2002-07-12 |
| Allowing pilots to carry guns might prevent the government from taking other steps to strengthen airline security, the chairman of American Airlines said Thursday. American Chairman Donald Carty said the time spent drafting rules and training pilots would come at the expense of other, more effective actions to protect passengers. "We have been so engaged and the government has been so engaged in things that I believe are the primary parts of security, in particular protecting the cockpit, in particular marrying government intelligence with airline reservation records," Carty told a National Press Club luncheon. "These are the things that'll keep bad people off our airplanes and keep them out of our cockpits. I'm concerned about a whole bunch of resources being removed from the primary objective of security." No doubt it hurt when he was dropped on his head, but a neurosurgeon can probably dispose of that little old subdural haematoma in jig time... Meanwhile, the American pilots' union said its members would ask senators to support legislation letting pilots carry guns, a measure the House overwhelmingly approved Wednesday. The opposition to allowing pilots to carry guns as a last resort protection for themselves and their passengers — occasionally including me — seems more hysterical than reasoned. The fact that there are other measures to be taken, f'instance against bombs, doesn't negate the fact that on September 11th of last year guns in the hands of four pilots and four copilots might well have saved 3000 lives. Maybe half would have succeeded and half failed; that still would have saved 1500 lives. My personal opinion — worth at least every penny you're paying for it! — is that anyone with a handgun permit should be allowed, yea encouraged, to pack his/her/its rod on any flight. It would be a ducky idea to offer them discount fares and free upgrades so they could sit right up front in first-class, where the Bad Guys so love to ride. And non-totin' passengers should be allowed and encouraged to carry with them mace, pepper spray, tranquilizer guns, knives, barbecue forks and large nets, assuming they fit in carry-on luggage. Why? Because sometimes I have to fly places and my carcass might not be much, but it's the only one I've got... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Archie Bunker had the best idea: issue everyone a rod with their boarding pass. Any hijacker would automatically be outgunned. |
| Posted by: Denny Wilson 2002-07-12 21:48:16 |