Obama disarms pilots

[Meplat]

As one who spends 80 hours a month in the pointy end of an regional airliner and gets monthly and yearly training on the threats we face, trust me, you want guys to carry. Not just in case they need it but also for the deterrent factor.

Your dammed right I do. I trust you when you tell me you can handel the aircraft. Why should I not when you tell me you can handle a gun?

[CmpsdNoMore]

Are pilots forbidden from carrying while flying or are they just not getting funded anymore?

As someone who is trying to be a professional pilot, I would want to be able to carry while flying if I was able to shoot proficiently.

[oops]

this is just another way to get back at gun people. The pilot community is not a big gun community so there will never be a majority of armed pilots. I for one like the program but at the same time I know guns have no place in an airplane. On that note I would rather have an armed pilot who knows the risk of discharging a weapon on an airplane versus some yahoo armed agent who will get tunnel vision staring at the first turbin head that gets out of hand.

as for any argument about a pilot doing something stupid what can I say? WE DRINK A LOT. One is bound to do something stupid with his weapon and it will most definitely be blown out of proportion by the media. That being said no pilot I know would ever risk their career by pulling out his or her weapon when it wasn't completely warranted. I have been trying to improve my resume for almost a decade and have finally made it to the point where I can live comfortably. Not many people go through the tight screening processes that pilots do. One oops on our record and we become bartenders for life. Obama is trying to fight any fight he thinks he can win right now, and I think this just happens to be one of those on the list

[Meplat]

I for one like the program but at the same time I know guns have no place in an airplane.

Why?

[Mstrty]

Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/guns-on-a-plane-obama-secretly-ends-program-that-l/

[Meplat]

I like it!

[BamBam-31]

NVM. Threads merged.

[Full Clip]

Thread FAIL.
More importantly, Obama on national security FAIL.

[Aleksei Vasiliev]

The budget for this program is $25 million (or $50 if they got their wanted increase, unknown). Obama is diverting $2 million from it.

[blackbox]

Or is it more complicated than that. The article is definitely wrong/misleading by saying "There are no cases where any of them has improperly brandished or used a gun." - I remember hearing about a few incidents (not that that is bad, but its not accurate reporting).

And then, from the comments in the article:

By: Jumpseat Guy
FACT: The FFDO people were talking about a quality control program for check-riding FFDOs over fifteen months ago. I know because I was in charge of Jumpseat Programs for a U.S. Air Carrier and we were discussing the possible use of our jumpseats under such a program.

It is thus difficult for me to see how anyone could make the leap to mean that something that was started during the previous Administration could be a devious plan by the current Administration to do away with this vital and important program.

But hey, this is America. Everyone is entitled to yell "THE SKY IS FALLING!"

March 17, 2009 at 3 p.m. | Mark as Offensive

By: harrym
The '08 budget for FFDO was $25M. This editorial talks about a shift of only $2M, but declares that Obama "secretly ends program".

So how is a shift of less than 10% of the budget a sign that the program is being ended?

Where's the evidence to support these claims?

[Meplat]

My gosh, there seem to be a ton of Obama apologists on this forum!

[CalNRA]

let's see, trillions of dollars going to be poured on everything from statues to community "projects", and the program that has great effectiveness in increasing security of domestic flights gets its funding cut by 8%.

Priority is a subjective thing, for sure.

[oops]

Why?

because a miss or even a bullet that goes completely through could potentially damage an airplane enough to make it incredibly difficult to handle. On top of that before pulling the trigger aren't we supposed to know what is beyond the target in case we miss or it goes through? There is no safe firing line in an airplane. The bullet has to stop somewhere possibly in a child or punching through the pressure vessel which would depressurize the aircraft in seconds or less. Far fetched? Maybe. I know I sound like an anti gun nut but you did ask.

I personally think if anybody should ever be allowed on an airplane with a loaded weapon the pilots should be the only logical decision. Someone better be pounding down the cockpit door before it is ever even thought of as a solution also. I don't fly for the airlines but as for the way we operate NO one ever steps onto an airplane I'm flying with a loaded weapon. That goes for body guards, law enforcement and body guards that are off duty law enforcement. There are plenty of other alternatives in an airplane.

I do not want to see this privilege taken away from pilots but I can't fully endorse it either. guns don't belong everywhere all the time

[Meplat]

70% of airline pilots are ex-military. I don't care if they flew F-16s' FA-18s, C-130s, C5-As, RC-135s, or any other military aircraft. They were all trained to safely and effectively handle a side arm. I trust the civilian trained pilots to know wether they need further training, and wether they have what it takes to effectively deploy a firearm in defense of themselves and their passengers and crew. You trust your lives to these people to start with, let them decide!

[vrand]

Or better yet, Hope


Hope the hell that the pilot will be able to keep the cockpit door closed....

and a Prayer