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Gun Arithmetic
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun Arithmetic
Jul 18, 2002
When Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer comes out in favor of gun legislation that does not have the word "control" prominent in the title, it's time to sit up and take notice. Ms. Boxer says she gave long and careful deliberation to the question of allowing airline pilots to carry guns. She supports the idea; so should everyone.
For one thing, guns already are allowed on planes; air marshals and certain other individuals are authorized to carry them. But the nation does not have enough air marshals to man every flight. That leaves planes vulnerable to terrorists who might sneak a weapon aboard. What's more, a recent nationwide check found airport screeners missed fake guns and bombs roughly 25 percent of the time - and more at some locations. (And the national screening strategy, which focuses on mechanical detection of objects, is inferior to psychological probing through questioning used in Israel and elsewhere.)
In short, without an armed crew planes remain largely defenseless against armed terrorists. The airline industry worries about what might happen if a passenger is shot by accident. The proper concern is over what would happen if a terrorist is not shot on purpose: Either he would use the plane to his own demoniacal ends, or U.S. fighter jets would shoot it out of the sky. On the one hand, the possibility of an injured passenger or two; on the other, the certain death of all of them, and maybe thousands more on the ground.
You do the math.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/editorials/MGB3ANNSR3D.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
Jul 18, 2002
When Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer comes out in favor of gun legislation that does not have the word "control" prominent in the title, it's time to sit up and take notice. Ms. Boxer says she gave long and careful deliberation to the question of allowing airline pilots to carry guns. She supports the idea; so should everyone.
For one thing, guns already are allowed on planes; air marshals and certain other individuals are authorized to carry them. But the nation does not have enough air marshals to man every flight. That leaves planes vulnerable to terrorists who might sneak a weapon aboard. What's more, a recent nationwide check found airport screeners missed fake guns and bombs roughly 25 percent of the time - and more at some locations. (And the national screening strategy, which focuses on mechanical detection of objects, is inferior to psychological probing through questioning used in Israel and elsewhere.)
In short, without an armed crew planes remain largely defenseless against armed terrorists. The airline industry worries about what might happen if a passenger is shot by accident. The proper concern is over what would happen if a terrorist is not shot on purpose: Either he would use the plane to his own demoniacal ends, or U.S. fighter jets would shoot it out of the sky. On the one hand, the possibility of an injured passenger or two; on the other, the certain death of all of them, and maybe thousands more on the ground.
You do the math.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/editorials/MGB3ANNSR3D.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