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NRA Chief Says Armed Pilots Would Have Stopped9-11
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
NRA Chief Says Armed Pilots Would Have Stopped 9-11 Attack
By Jim Burns
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
April 27, 2002
Reno, Nevada (CNSNews.com) - National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told his association's convention in Reno, Nevada Saturday that if airline pilots been allowed to carry guns, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against New York and the Pentagon wouldn't have happened.
"What would have made 9-11 impossible? If those pilots on those four airplanes had the right to be armed. When you think about it, they should have been armed 30 years ago. It's a no brainer," said LaPierre.
LaPierre said airline pilots should be trusted with firearms in the cockpits because they are very disciplined workers and could do a better job protecting airline passengers than federal air marshals.
According to LaPierre, arming pilots would be "the quickest, cheapest, most thorough means to protect our skies."
"Airline pilots are among the most disciplined and the most professional screened personnel of any profession in our country," LaPierre said.
While the NRA did not explicitly endorse legislation regarding the arming of airline pilots, LaPierre's remarks could provide some traction for a bill about to appear before Congress.
House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) plan to introduce legislation Tuesday to allow trained pilots to carry guns inside airliners cockpits during flights.
Without specifically referring to the Mica-Young bill, LaPierre lamented the fact that the pilots involved in the four Sept. 11 hijackings were unarmed, and said "that loss of liberty led to a terrible loss of life and it led to a terrible loss of privacy at our nation's airports."
LaPierre expressed confidence in pilots handling firearms in-flight, saying "more than half of them are former military officers and don't tell me that the answer is federal air marshals."
But the idea has so far received a cool reception from the Bush administration. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has said in the past that newly reinforced cockpit doors would prevent terrorists from commandeering airplanes, and Homeland
Security Chief Tom Ridge is opposed to arming pilots as well.
However, the Airline Pilots Association, the largest pilot's union, has asked its members to urge their employers to support guns in the cockpit.
While some believe armed sky marshals would offer better protection and safety than armed pilots, LaPierre said the numbers simply don't add up.
"To protect all domestic flights would take 150,000 of them, so it's very unlikely there will be a federal air marshal on your next flight," said LaPierre. "But, you can bet there will be pilots, and they should have the right to protect that cockpit with a firearm."
Mica said his subcommittee has scheduled a Capitol Hill a hearing on Thursday on the matter of arming airline pilots. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=//Nation//archive//200204//NAT20020427a.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 Jim Burns
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
April 27, 2002
Reno, Nevada (CNSNews.com) - National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told his association's convention in Reno, Nevada Saturday that if airline pilots been allowed to carry guns, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against New York and the Pentagon wouldn't have happened.
"What would have made 9-11 impossible? If those pilots on those four airplanes had the right to be armed. When you think about it, they should have been armed 30 years ago. It's a no brainer," said LaPierre.
LaPierre said airline pilots should be trusted with firearms in the cockpits because they are very disciplined workers and could do a better job protecting airline passengers than federal air marshals.
According to LaPierre, arming pilots would be "the quickest, cheapest, most thorough means to protect our skies."
"Airline pilots are among the most disciplined and the most professional screened personnel of any profession in our country," LaPierre said.
While the NRA did not explicitly endorse legislation regarding the arming of airline pilots, LaPierre's remarks could provide some traction for a bill about to appear before Congress.
House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) plan to introduce legislation Tuesday to allow trained pilots to carry guns inside airliners cockpits during flights.
Without specifically referring to the Mica-Young bill, LaPierre lamented the fact that the pilots involved in the four Sept. 11 hijackings were unarmed, and said "that loss of liberty led to a terrible loss of life and it led to a terrible loss of privacy at our nation's airports."
LaPierre expressed confidence in pilots handling firearms in-flight, saying "more than half of them are former military officers and don't tell me that the answer is federal air marshals."
But the idea has so far received a cool reception from the Bush administration. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has said in the past that newly reinforced cockpit doors would prevent terrorists from commandeering airplanes, and Homeland
Security Chief Tom Ridge is opposed to arming pilots as well.
However, the Airline Pilots Association, the largest pilot's union, has asked its members to urge their employers to support guns in the cockpit.
While some believe armed sky marshals would offer better protection and safety than armed pilots, LaPierre said the numbers simply don't add up.
"To protect all domestic flights would take 150,000 of them, so it's very unlikely there will be a federal air marshal on your next flight," said LaPierre. "But, you can bet there will be pilots, and they should have the right to protect that cockpit with a firearm."
Mica said his subcommittee has scheduled a Capitol Hill a hearing on Thursday on the matter of arming airline pilots. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=//Nation//archive//200204//NAT20020427a.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