In an article by Patrick Sperry posted on March 17, 2009 on the Washington Times. The Obama administration secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns.
President Obama secretly ended the Federal firearms program that allowed commercial airline pilots to pack their own guns with them on a flight as a last ditch effort to stop any terrorists that might breach the cockpit doorway. However, it should be expected of this president since it would be in-line with his anti-gun ideology. The administration is hoping to divert some $2 million dollars from teh pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff - who do the in field inspections of the pilots.
The 12,000 Federal Flight Deck Officers ( the pilots who have been approved to carry guns, are reported to have the best behavior of any federal law enforcement agency. No cases at all where any of them has improperly missused their firearms.
Fewer than one percent of these officers have had any legal or administrative actions against them. And in the end, virtually all fo those cases have ended up being "trumped up."
Repoter Patrick Sperry provided one example of a flight officer who had visited the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in the last few weeks. While there, the pilot noticed that federal law enforcement officers can, with the approval of a superior, obtain a license plate that cannot be traced, a key safety feature for law enforcement personnel. The pilot asked if, as a member of the Federal program, was he eligible. The DMV staffer checked and told him "No." The very next day, administrative actions were brought against the pilot for "misrepresenting himself." It is these kinds of cases that President Obama wants investigated.
Since the election, the approval process for letting pilots carry guns on 0planes slowed significantly. Now reports are coming out that the Federal Flight Deck Officers approval process has been slowed down to a stop.
Carrying guns on airplanes is nothing new. Before the 1960s, Commercial Pilots carrying US Mail on aircraft were required to carry handguns.
There are NO independent polling taking place out in the country where the public is demanding the pilots disarm. Quoting Sperry, "Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots."
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Ref. The Washington Times. ( http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/17/guns-on-a-plane-obama-secretly-ends-program-that-l/ ).
photo comes from ( www.airlinerphotos.com ).
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