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House OKs guns in cockpits
SXSMAN
Member Posts: 2,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
WASHINGTON, July 10 - Airline pilots could carry
guns in the cockpit to defend their planes against
terrorists under a bill the House passed
overwhelmingly Wednesday despite the
opposition of the White House. The legislation,
approved by a vote of 310-113, would allow
guns for more than 70,000 pilots if they agreed
to undergo training. Lawmakers stripped out
provisions that would have limited the program
to some 1,400 pilots, about 2 percent of those
flying.
`It is imperative that
under these new
circumstances, we
must allow trained
and qualified pilots
to serve as the last
line of defense
against such a
potential disaster.'
- DON YOUNG
Transportation Committee
chairman
DESPITE THE STRONG House support, prospects
in the Senate were not good for the legislation. Besides the
White House, those opposing it include Ernest Hollings, a
South Carolina Democrat who heads the Senate Commerce
Committee.
The guns-in-cockpits question is among a host of
aviation security issues that arose after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. In this case, House GOP leaders have been at
odds with the administration, which has repeatedly argued
that cockpit crews should focus on flying planes and let air
marshals worry about security.
Though Republican and Democratic leaders of the
House Transportation Committee agreed to arm only a
fraction of the pilots, rank-and-file lawmakers voted to
expand the program to any pilot who volunteers.
"If there is a credible threat that requires arming pilots,
why would you restrict yourself?" said an amendment
sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.
"Having that minuscule number of pilots trained and
armed would not make any sense. If the pilots should be
armed, there should be some significant number."
The measure also would require more self-defense
training for flight attendants and give the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) 90 days to act on an airline's
request to equip pilots and flight attendants with non-lethal
weapons such as stun guns.
"Today, armed F-16s are prepared to shoot down any
commercial jet that is hijacked by terrorists," said
Transportation Committee chairman Don Young, R-Alaska.
"It is imperative that under these new circumstances, we
must allow trained and qualified pilots to serve as the last
line of defense against such a potential disaster."
Opponents of the legislation have expressed concern
that an errant bullet could kill a passenger or knock out a
critical electrical system.
A flight attendants union also opposed arming pilots.
"Giving guns to pilots without specific cabin defense
requirements for airlines could be deadly for flight attendants
and passengers," Patricia Friend, president of the
Association of Flight Attendants, said last month.
TSA head John Magaw, who announced the
administration's position against guns in cockpits, has said
that a pilot should give undivided attention to flying his
plane, landing it as quickly as possible and conducting
in-flight maneuvers to keep hijackers off balance.
Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House aviation
subcommittee, dismissed the administration's objections.
"Bureaucrats set the rules. We set the policy and the
laws," said Mica, R-Fla.
Pilots' unions said their members needed the guns to
prevent terrorists from breaking into cockpits and
commandeering airplanes, as happened last September.
ASSOCIATION SUPPORT
The Air Line Pilots Association has contributed
$764,000 to federal candidates since Jan. 1, 2001. That's
more in donations than was given to candidates by any
individual airline, with 85 percent of the money going to
Democrats, many of whom joined the majority House
Republicans in supporting the legislation.
Advertisement
Before the vote, the Allied Pilots Association, which
represents American Airlines pilots, urged its members to
call lawmakers and ask them to increase the number of
pilots who could carry guns.
In strengthening airline security following the attacks,
lawmakers gave the decision to arm pilots to the TSA. After
Magaw announced the administration's decision against
guns in the cockpits, lawmakers in both houses introduced
legislation to overturn that action.
Magaw said the presence of air marshals on board
many flights and the use of reinforced cockpit doors provide
sufficient protection against terrorists.
Although passage in the House had been predicted, the
legislation faced difficult obstacles on the other side of the
Capitol.
Congressional aides have suggested that the measure
may be offered as an amendment to a bill providing money
for the Transportation Department, because Hollings'
opposition is enough under Senate rules to keep the
armed-pilots bill from coming up for a vote.
"A freestanding bill is not the only way to pass
something in the Senate," said Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H.
c 2002 Associated Press.
Have guns,will travel
Edited by - SXSMAN on 07/11/2002 06:42:22
guns in the cockpit to defend their planes against
terrorists under a bill the House passed
overwhelmingly Wednesday despite the
opposition of the White House. The legislation,
approved by a vote of 310-113, would allow
guns for more than 70,000 pilots if they agreed
to undergo training. Lawmakers stripped out
provisions that would have limited the program
to some 1,400 pilots, about 2 percent of those
flying.
`It is imperative that
under these new
circumstances, we
must allow trained
and qualified pilots
to serve as the last
line of defense
against such a
potential disaster.'
- DON YOUNG
Transportation Committee
chairman
DESPITE THE STRONG House support, prospects
in the Senate were not good for the legislation. Besides the
White House, those opposing it include Ernest Hollings, a
South Carolina Democrat who heads the Senate Commerce
Committee.
The guns-in-cockpits question is among a host of
aviation security issues that arose after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks. In this case, House GOP leaders have been at
odds with the administration, which has repeatedly argued
that cockpit crews should focus on flying planes and let air
marshals worry about security.
Though Republican and Democratic leaders of the
House Transportation Committee agreed to arm only a
fraction of the pilots, rank-and-file lawmakers voted to
expand the program to any pilot who volunteers.
"If there is a credible threat that requires arming pilots,
why would you restrict yourself?" said an amendment
sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.
"Having that minuscule number of pilots trained and
armed would not make any sense. If the pilots should be
armed, there should be some significant number."
The measure also would require more self-defense
training for flight attendants and give the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) 90 days to act on an airline's
request to equip pilots and flight attendants with non-lethal
weapons such as stun guns.
"Today, armed F-16s are prepared to shoot down any
commercial jet that is hijacked by terrorists," said
Transportation Committee chairman Don Young, R-Alaska.
"It is imperative that under these new circumstances, we
must allow trained and qualified pilots to serve as the last
line of defense against such a potential disaster."
Opponents of the legislation have expressed concern
that an errant bullet could kill a passenger or knock out a
critical electrical system.
A flight attendants union also opposed arming pilots.
"Giving guns to pilots without specific cabin defense
requirements for airlines could be deadly for flight attendants
and passengers," Patricia Friend, president of the
Association of Flight Attendants, said last month.
TSA head John Magaw, who announced the
administration's position against guns in cockpits, has said
that a pilot should give undivided attention to flying his
plane, landing it as quickly as possible and conducting
in-flight maneuvers to keep hijackers off balance.
Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House aviation
subcommittee, dismissed the administration's objections.
"Bureaucrats set the rules. We set the policy and the
laws," said Mica, R-Fla.
Pilots' unions said their members needed the guns to
prevent terrorists from breaking into cockpits and
commandeering airplanes, as happened last September.
ASSOCIATION SUPPORT
The Air Line Pilots Association has contributed
$764,000 to federal candidates since Jan. 1, 2001. That's
more in donations than was given to candidates by any
individual airline, with 85 percent of the money going to
Democrats, many of whom joined the majority House
Republicans in supporting the legislation.
Advertisement
Before the vote, the Allied Pilots Association, which
represents American Airlines pilots, urged its members to
call lawmakers and ask them to increase the number of
pilots who could carry guns.
In strengthening airline security following the attacks,
lawmakers gave the decision to arm pilots to the TSA. After
Magaw announced the administration's decision against
guns in the cockpits, lawmakers in both houses introduced
legislation to overturn that action.
Magaw said the presence of air marshals on board
many flights and the use of reinforced cockpit doors provide
sufficient protection against terrorists.
Although passage in the House had been predicted, the
legislation faced difficult obstacles on the other side of the
Capitol.
Congressional aides have suggested that the measure
may be offered as an amendment to a bill providing money
for the Transportation Department, because Hollings'
opposition is enough under Senate rules to keep the
armed-pilots bill from coming up for a vote.
"A freestanding bill is not the only way to pass
something in the Senate," said Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H.
c 2002 Associated Press.
Have guns,will travel
Edited by - SXSMAN on 07/11/2002 06:42:22