Armed Pilots Provision Adopted as Part of Airline Security Bill
November 16, 2001

Congratulations!

In the face of initially scathing opposition from gun-haters in Congress, you -- through tens of thousands of letters, e-mails, post cards, and petitions -- have forced the Senate and House to adopt modified language to allow pilots to carry firearms in the cockpit for the defense of themselves and their passengers and crew.

A last-minute intervention by Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) was also successful in defeating an "eleventh hour" effort by anti-gun zealots to limit the provision to stun guns.

The aviation security bill, with the armed pilots amendment, passed in final form in both the Senate and the House today. It will now go to the Oval Office for President's signature.

The language is not perfect. The Undersecretary of Transportation and the airlines have the theoretical ability to mount a last-ditch effort to block the implementation of this armed pilots provision.

But with strike threats by airline pilots and the overwhelming support among the general public for arming pilots, it is likely such opposition will be overcome.

Make no mistake about it: powerful anti-gun interests in the Senate worked vigorously behind the scenes to defeat this provision. They fought as hard as they could to water it down. And it was only through your hard work that we were able to defeat their attempts to disarm pilots.

So, congratulations! And thanks! Your efforts have struck a mighty blow toward making the American skies safe again!

Good so that bastard McCain didnt have the ability to kill it

[beer]

For the life of me, I can't understand why John McCain fought so hard against this provision. A fellow pilot and combat veteran to boot!

Did he spend too much time at the Hanoi Hilton???

Great news. If you guys can be trusted with a multi-million dollar airplane and hundreds of lives, you [i]need[/i] to be trusted with a gun in order to protect them.

About damn time congress did something right!!!!

McCain ran a 60 second advertisement advocating registration for sales at gunshows (The proverbial gunshow loophole)

The man is a total piece of crap. THANK YOU SO MUCH AZ PPL, now I have to endure an ‘instant’ check for private party sale.  

PLEASE get a better candidate for the next election.

Don, thanks for your vote of confidence.

Excellent! I was hoping this wouldn't get taken out by "political concerns"(aka pussy footing). Now if only it will get implemented