Rather than give armed pilots a chance to stave off potential terrorist hijackings, our government would rather blow hijacked aircraft out of the sky, killing more civillians that a stray bullet from a handgun could ever do:
“The concept of arming pilots with firearms to prevent or stop a hijacking is viewed by some as an extreme and intrusive measure, but we think they’ve got it exactly backwards… The policy of sacrificing a civilian airliner with innocent Americans on board to keep terrorists from using it as a weapon – while at the same time refusing to allow the pilots an opportunity to offer a last resort, final line of defense – is the extremist view that should be ridiculed and dismissed.”
Admittedly, I’d feel much safer on a flight with pilots like these.
I’d also kick it up a notch and arm and train flight attendants — so the pilots can focus on flying the plane, and act as the last line of onboard defense.
Or hope that El Al will begin domestic service to major airports…
(Audio link via Blogatelle)
One Response to “Magnums, Not Missiles”
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If they arm the flight attendants, that means there will be reasonably easily accessible weapons already on board (about half of all cops who get shot are shot with their own weapon after a criminal gains control of it).
But if this means the passengers can then skip the entire security check, I’m all for it!
(Am I being facetious…? I don’t know…I’m not sure myself….)