Drizzt
April 25, 2003, 04:15 PM
Scripps Howard News Service
April 27, 2003, Sunday 03:01 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: SPORTS
LENGTH: 668 words
HEADLINE: Some people need to get over their fear of guns
SOURCE: Scripps Howard News Service
BYLINE: LOWELL BRANHAM
BODY:
The first 44 U.S. airline pilots trained in the use of handguns have been officially sworn in as federal flight deck officers.
I don't know how you feel about that, but I surely know how I'd feel if I were on a plane with one of those 44 pilots at the helm. I'd feel a lot safer.
If airline pilots had been armed 19 months ago, the Muslim fanatics who orchestrated 9/11 would've been foiled, and 3,000 Americans would still be alive.
But there is a sizable segment of the U.S. population and a distinctly larger proportion of Washington politicians, nearly all of whom sit on the Democratic side of the aisle, who are totally opposed, not just to pilots being armed, but to anyone being armed who is not a policeman or a member of the armed forces.
Those folks argue that outlawing guns would do away with crime, but the logic of such a proposition is so faulty it borders on lunacy. Only an idiot could believe gun confiscation would have any effect on criminals who have no respect for any law. All gun confiscation would do is make it easier for criminals to prey on the law-abiding.
On the gun issue, the Bush White House bears no resemblance to the Clinton administration, which was the most rabidly antigun of any in U.S. history.
In fact, the Clinton administration's antigun stance was what kept Al Gore from winning the White House.
If Gore had carried his home state of Tennessee, which is where I live and consequently know something about, he would've won the election. Gore's daddy, Albert Gore Sr., lost his seat in the Senate partly because of his antigun votes.
As a result during his own time in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate, Gore Jr. supported of gun rights. But the heady atmosphere of the vice presidency evidently swayed him to change his colors on guns, and he wound up losing his pro-gun home state and the presidency along with it.
In strong contrast to Gore and the Clintonites, the Bush White House has been strongly supportive of the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.
But strangely enough, the Bush administration has not favored arming pilots even though it is the most simple, direct and sure-fire way to assure that the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 are never repeated. Fortunately, in a rare display of sagacity Congress saw fit to override the White House and authorize arming pilots.
Now the first 44 have completed a course of instruction at a federal law enforcement training center in Glynco, Ga., and thousands more will eventually follow because a large proportion of airline pilots do favor being armed when they're in the cockpit.
Those who do not wish to bear arms won't be forced to. If I were a frequent flyer - which I am never going to be because I detest flying - but if I were a frequent flyer, I'd certainly want to know which flights feature armed pilots and which do not. I'd only fly on the former.
The Transportation Security Administration is in charge of pilots' firearms training. It pegs the cost of training at $6,200 a head, which seems a trifle high. But anything that government undertakes usually costs 10 times more than logic says it ought to.
The security agency has an appropriation of $8 million to carry it through to Sept. 30. At $6,200 each, that would provide training for 1,270 pilots.
The agency has asked for $25 million to cover training costs next year.
I'd sure like to have a contract to train pilots in firearms proficiency at $6,200 apiece. Granted handguns are a lot harder to become proficient with than long guns, but I think I could develop proficiency in those capable of achieving it and still pocket 90 percent of the training cost as profit.
Of course there are always going to be some students who prove incapable of developing proficiency at any price. I guess it's best that those poor souls remain unarmed, but I don't want to go flying with them.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)
April 27, 2003, Sunday 03:01 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: SPORTS
LENGTH: 668 words
HEADLINE: Some people need to get over their fear of guns
SOURCE: Scripps Howard News Service
BYLINE: LOWELL BRANHAM
BODY:
The first 44 U.S. airline pilots trained in the use of handguns have been officially sworn in as federal flight deck officers.
I don't know how you feel about that, but I surely know how I'd feel if I were on a plane with one of those 44 pilots at the helm. I'd feel a lot safer.
If airline pilots had been armed 19 months ago, the Muslim fanatics who orchestrated 9/11 would've been foiled, and 3,000 Americans would still be alive.
But there is a sizable segment of the U.S. population and a distinctly larger proportion of Washington politicians, nearly all of whom sit on the Democratic side of the aisle, who are totally opposed, not just to pilots being armed, but to anyone being armed who is not a policeman or a member of the armed forces.
Those folks argue that outlawing guns would do away with crime, but the logic of such a proposition is so faulty it borders on lunacy. Only an idiot could believe gun confiscation would have any effect on criminals who have no respect for any law. All gun confiscation would do is make it easier for criminals to prey on the law-abiding.
On the gun issue, the Bush White House bears no resemblance to the Clinton administration, which was the most rabidly antigun of any in U.S. history.
In fact, the Clinton administration's antigun stance was what kept Al Gore from winning the White House.
If Gore had carried his home state of Tennessee, which is where I live and consequently know something about, he would've won the election. Gore's daddy, Albert Gore Sr., lost his seat in the Senate partly because of his antigun votes.
As a result during his own time in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate, Gore Jr. supported of gun rights. But the heady atmosphere of the vice presidency evidently swayed him to change his colors on guns, and he wound up losing his pro-gun home state and the presidency along with it.
In strong contrast to Gore and the Clintonites, the Bush White House has been strongly supportive of the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.
But strangely enough, the Bush administration has not favored arming pilots even though it is the most simple, direct and sure-fire way to assure that the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 are never repeated. Fortunately, in a rare display of sagacity Congress saw fit to override the White House and authorize arming pilots.
Now the first 44 have completed a course of instruction at a federal law enforcement training center in Glynco, Ga., and thousands more will eventually follow because a large proportion of airline pilots do favor being armed when they're in the cockpit.
Those who do not wish to bear arms won't be forced to. If I were a frequent flyer - which I am never going to be because I detest flying - but if I were a frequent flyer, I'd certainly want to know which flights feature armed pilots and which do not. I'd only fly on the former.
The Transportation Security Administration is in charge of pilots' firearms training. It pegs the cost of training at $6,200 a head, which seems a trifle high. But anything that government undertakes usually costs 10 times more than logic says it ought to.
The security agency has an appropriation of $8 million to carry it through to Sept. 30. At $6,200 each, that would provide training for 1,270 pilots.
The agency has asked for $25 million to cover training costs next year.
I'd sure like to have a contract to train pilots in firearms proficiency at $6,200 apiece. Granted handguns are a lot harder to become proficient with than long guns, but I think I could develop proficiency in those capable of achieving it and still pocket 90 percent of the training cost as profit.
Of course there are always going to be some students who prove incapable of developing proficiency at any price. I guess it's best that those poor souls remain unarmed, but I don't want to go flying with them.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)