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Sept. 11 Pilot's Widow Supports Arming Pilots with
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Sept. 11 Pilot's Widow Supports Arming Pilots with Guns
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
July 19, 2002
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - The widow of a pilot killed by terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday she supports commercial airline pilots being armed with guns as a "last line of defense" to prevent another such tragedy.
No one can say for certain what would have happened had the pilots of September 11th been armed," said Ellen Saracini, widow of Victor Saracini, the pilot of United Airlines Flight 175 before terrorists armed only with knives and box cutters took over the plane and crashed it into Tower II of the World Trade Center.
"However, it stands to reason that the loss of life and property damage could have been vastly different," she added.
Mrs. Saracini said, before his murder, her husband had discussed with her his support for the idea of pilots having guns for self-defense.
"He believed strongly that it was a valid means of insuring aircraft safety," Saracini recalled. "Little did he realize how profoundly his thoughts would affect his life."
Pilots, flight attendants, a veto-proof majority in the House, and as many as 70 percent of Americans also support the idea, according to an October 2001 survey conducted for pilots' unions.
The House passed legislation July 10 by a 310 to 113 veto-proof majority to force the Transportation Security Administration to create a program that would allow any pilot who completes a background check and minimal training, to carry a firearm in the cockpit for self-defense.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Undersecretary for Transportation Security John Magaw had announced earlier this year that they would not arm pilots under a discretionary provision in the law that created the TSA.
Magaw announced his resignation Thursday, but did not say whether his departure was in response to congressional attempts to overrule his opposition to anyone other than federal law enforcement officers being armed.
Tired of Waiting
Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) has a bill similar to the House legislation awaiting action in the Senate Commerce Committee. S. 2554 has been in the Commerce Committee since its introduction May 23rd," Smith explained. "We've not had a hearing, not had a mark-up, no debate, nothing."
Capt. Phillip Beall, who flies for American Airlines and represents the Allied Pilots Association, supported efforts to move legislation through Congress. "Further delay continues to needlessly place the lives of our passengers, crews, and people on the ground at risk," Beall said.
Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned that if the Democratic leadership of the Senate does not allow a vote on the bill soon, he and his colleagues will force the issue.
"If the Senate doesn't take up this bill, we're going to put it on every single bill that's going through the Senate for the balance of this session," Murkowski threatened. "We mean business."
Among the opponents of arming pilots is Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Hollings said in May pilots need to focus on their primary duties, not using a gun to defend the cockpit.
"Pilots are there to fly, not shoot," he said. "It's not ho-hum up there. You don't get up and stretch. You fly the plane."
But not all Democrats share Hollings' perspective. Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) thinks little of the objections put forward by Hollings and other opponents of the bill.
"It's as if they think that pilots can't handle the responsibility of protecting the cockpit with a firearm when it comes to a situation of last resort," Miller said. "I've got news for these folks: If they think that using a firearm for self-defense is hard, they ought to try landing a 747 in bad weather.
"Will somebody please explain to me the logic that says we can trust someone with a Boeing 747, but we can't trust them with a Glock 9 millimeter?" he asked.
Mrs. Saracini says she is convinced that if her husband and his co-pilot had had the option to be armed on Sept. 11, he would still be with her today.
"Because the September 11th hijackers were armed with only box cutters, armed pilots would probably have been able to neutralize them before any significant loss of life took place," she said. "Certainly, the possibility of commandeering the aircraft would have been significantly reduced."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200207\POL20020719a.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
July 19, 2002
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - The widow of a pilot killed by terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday she supports commercial airline pilots being armed with guns as a "last line of defense" to prevent another such tragedy.
No one can say for certain what would have happened had the pilots of September 11th been armed," said Ellen Saracini, widow of Victor Saracini, the pilot of United Airlines Flight 175 before terrorists armed only with knives and box cutters took over the plane and crashed it into Tower II of the World Trade Center.
"However, it stands to reason that the loss of life and property damage could have been vastly different," she added.
Mrs. Saracini said, before his murder, her husband had discussed with her his support for the idea of pilots having guns for self-defense.
"He believed strongly that it was a valid means of insuring aircraft safety," Saracini recalled. "Little did he realize how profoundly his thoughts would affect his life."
Pilots, flight attendants, a veto-proof majority in the House, and as many as 70 percent of Americans also support the idea, according to an October 2001 survey conducted for pilots' unions.
The House passed legislation July 10 by a 310 to 113 veto-proof majority to force the Transportation Security Administration to create a program that would allow any pilot who completes a background check and minimal training, to carry a firearm in the cockpit for self-defense.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Undersecretary for Transportation Security John Magaw had announced earlier this year that they would not arm pilots under a discretionary provision in the law that created the TSA.
Magaw announced his resignation Thursday, but did not say whether his departure was in response to congressional attempts to overrule his opposition to anyone other than federal law enforcement officers being armed.
Tired of Waiting
Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) has a bill similar to the House legislation awaiting action in the Senate Commerce Committee. S. 2554 has been in the Commerce Committee since its introduction May 23rd," Smith explained. "We've not had a hearing, not had a mark-up, no debate, nothing."
Capt. Phillip Beall, who flies for American Airlines and represents the Allied Pilots Association, supported efforts to move legislation through Congress. "Further delay continues to needlessly place the lives of our passengers, crews, and people on the ground at risk," Beall said.
Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned that if the Democratic leadership of the Senate does not allow a vote on the bill soon, he and his colleagues will force the issue.
"If the Senate doesn't take up this bill, we're going to put it on every single bill that's going through the Senate for the balance of this session," Murkowski threatened. "We mean business."
Among the opponents of arming pilots is Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Hollings said in May pilots need to focus on their primary duties, not using a gun to defend the cockpit.
"Pilots are there to fly, not shoot," he said. "It's not ho-hum up there. You don't get up and stretch. You fly the plane."
But not all Democrats share Hollings' perspective. Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) thinks little of the objections put forward by Hollings and other opponents of the bill.
"It's as if they think that pilots can't handle the responsibility of protecting the cockpit with a firearm when it comes to a situation of last resort," Miller said. "I've got news for these folks: If they think that using a firearm for self-defense is hard, they ought to try landing a 747 in bad weather.
"Will somebody please explain to me the logic that says we can trust someone with a Boeing 747, but we can't trust them with a Glock 9 millimeter?" he asked.
Mrs. Saracini says she is convinced that if her husband and his co-pilot had had the option to be armed on Sept. 11, he would still be with her today.
"Because the September 11th hijackers were armed with only box cutters, armed pilots would probably have been able to neutralize them before any significant loss of life took place," she said. "Certainly, the possibility of commandeering the aircraft would have been significantly reduced."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200207\POL20020719a.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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