From the Washington Post via the Boeing News:

ey Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the House yesterday agreed to a proposal that
                        would allow 250 airline pilots to carry guns during a two-year experimental program.

                        The plan, which is scheduled for a vote today by the House aviation subcommittee, is a
                        compromise that was reached in an attempt to address the concerns of some members of
                        Congress that arming pilots might endanger passengers or other crew members.

                        Since the Sept. 11 hijackings, pilots have lobbied aggressively for the right to have guns in the
                        cockpit. The compromise measure is a scaled-down version of a bill introduced last month that
                        would have permitted the arming of far more pilots.

...more....

http://boeingnews.web.boeing.com/020619a_in_pilots.html

If you can't open this, try the Post site.

Merlin

Well at least it is a start to some rational thinking which is quite rare these days, specially when it comes to politicians. I have yet to see one valid argument against arming pilots. I know I would rather have an armed pilot in the cockpit then the only alternative (getting blown out of the air by a F-16).

You are correct, Sir.

This is a good step in the right direction. it is possible, though not probable IMO, that guns in the cockpit is bad. This gives a chance for truth to be discovered and the best plan to be followed. I would go way, way, out of my way to fly on a jet with a gun in the cockpit.

For us to win, or even survive, the war against Islamic extremists, we MUST explore every avenue to find the best solutions. Anything less is stupid and we will die.

Better than nothing I suppose.

Anyone know roughly how many flights out of Reagan, O'Hare, LAX or Kennedy daily?

-legrue

Can you guys open this URL?  I can't tell since I'm inside the firewall.  If so, it will allow me to post other news items as they come up.

Thanks,

Merlin

Barely. Like the air marshall program ("On a good day, we're on one out of every 70 domestic flights!"), this is a number that's too small to have any realistic chance of thwarting a hijacking, but pacifies the public (and perhaps more importantly, the pilots' unions). It gives the impression that our leaders are doing something to solve the problem, nothing more.

ok only 250 pilots armed a day.  we'll just arm 250 more tommorro and 250 the next day.

Incremental arming with guns.  Hmmm...


...now THAT'S something I can really get used to!! [bounce]

I wonder what I need to do to be one of those 250?

Be very lucky.

I say we need to arm pilots because the next time we need to make budget cuts we will cut Air Marshals.

I think to pacify the Liberals we should train the pilots and pay them a bonus of $5000 a year to be armed.

I find it utterly stunning and disgusting that we as a society are so hoplophobic that we place our sheepish selves at the mercy of the wolf.  We apparently would rather die by terrorist or nutball than have a chunk of steel with us to defend ourselves.   Disgusting and completely mindnumbingly stupid.

At least some progress is being attempted with this compromise.

Mike

If the goverment won't do anything at the federal level, how about the states start taxing any flight into or out of their state whenn less then 10% of the people are unarmed.  How about a couple grand for each landing or take off?

I just hope they choose the pilots carefully because I've always been against stupid people with guns.

Although I'm VERY pro-gun , I sincerely believe its a bad idea to arm pilots.