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Should pilots pack guns?

bsebastbsebast Member Posts: 190 ✭✭✭
edited December 2001 in General Discussion
The Air Line Pilots Association is urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow pilots to carry firearms. In my opinion, Guns can't be fired in an area as small as an airplane cabin with 100 people in it, even by the most skilled marksman. There is way too much risk in hitting a bystander rather than the bad guy. The only way to handle hijackers and idiots is for us passengers to overwhelm them...like they did on September 11. I realize most of us don't want to get involved and would rather have someone else hired to do the dirty work, but that won't work in airplanes. Unfortunately it's up to us to keep the cabins under control. What do you think?
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Comments

  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I think pilots, cab drivers, truck drivers, bus drivers, train engineers, mail men and women, meter readers, all military on active duty, anyone over the age of 65, the physically disabled, those between the age of 18 and 65 who can pass a vision test, and any citizen of the U.S., should carry a concealed gun, provided they are legally sane and have no felony convictions.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I think the flight crew has one job. To take off, fly the plane safely, and get it down safely. I'd almost rather see planes redesigned so that the cockpit has completely separate ingress and egress than the passengers and flight attendants, with video monitoring for the crew to see the rest of the aircraft.I understand that sometimes there may be no substitute for the pilot's personal inspection of a mechanical situation/problem in another part of the airplane. If it weren't for that, I'd have separate ramps & doors for them than for the rest of us and never the twain shall meet. It occurs to me that double doors of the man-trap variety sometimes used in banks would be a possibility, in conjunction with other measures, on larger planes.For smaller craft, I think an assault-resistant door makes the most sense. The pilot is too busy, too strapped in and too confined in terms of space to turn around and effectively meet a vicious assault in most cases. Worse, from his seat, his line of fire toward the entryway is directly down the rows of the cabin's passenger section. As for shooting on board in general, I'm sure frangibles can be specially designed which are even more effective for the purpose than those already available, and if air marshalls are well trained I would not consider the risk too high, particularly since there will no doubt be rules of engagement and if he's firing, collateral damage has probably already become the lesser of two problems. After the incident of the guy with the sneakers, I must say I'm now worried about what the heck they CAN do to guarantee nothing gets through security. After all, a Tampax even LOOKS like a stick of TNT, fuse and all....
    "The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."
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