Obama Wants to Disarm U.S. Pilots - WTF

[HotZ28]

The Obama administration is taking steps quietly to shut down the program that qualifies commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in jetliner cockpits in order to ward off another 9/11-type attack.

The administration recently diverted $2 million from a program to train and certify pilots to carry firearms safely while on duty. Instead, it is using the money to hire additional field inspectors to help discipline pilots who step out of line, according to a report in Tuesday’s Washington Times. A Times editorial condemned the Obama administration's action, calling it “completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots.”

Since Obama took office, the approval process for certifying pilots to carry firearms has ground to a halt, the newspaper reports. Pilots are afraid to speak out about the behind-the-scenes maneuverings, for fear of retaliation, according to the newspaper. No cases have been reported in which pilots have brandished a weapon inappropriately or otherwise abused their eligibility to carry firearms.

About 12,000 pilots have been authorized to carry handguns while flying aircraft as part of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Program. Congress authorized the program in a 310-to-113 vote following the 9/11 attacks to help prevent terrorists from turning jetliners into flying bombs that could be used to attack key sites like the White House, the Pentagon, or Capitol Hill.

Paul Valone, a Second Amendment advocate who directs Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC.org), is calling for citizens to contract their congressional representatives to protest the administration’s anti-gun priorities.

Pilots are already required to pay for their own room and board during training, and use paid leave for the time they’re off the job. Every six months, the program requires them to be requalified for firearm use.
Valone writes on Examiner.com: “While bureaucrats . . . may have attempted to hamstring the program with burdensome requirements, training instructors and the Federal Air Marshals who now oversee the program routinely thank the FFDOs for their professionalism and dedication in protecting the nation’s air commerce against terrorism.”

Valone says the Obama administration is “dismantling yet another layer of defense against terrorism and defying the will of the American people.”
Since coming to power, the Obama administration has undertaken a series of moves that signal a major de-emphasis of programs enacted to keep America’s homeland safe from terrorist attack: Obama’s choice for U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, labeled enhanced interrogation techniques as outright “torture” during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Obama banned waterboarding and ordered CIA interrogators to abide by U.S. Army Field Manual regulations. He selected Clinton-era political operative Leon Panetta to serve as his CIA director. Panetta’s qualifications to run the agency have been questioned widely.

Obama announced that he would shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba within one year, raising the prospect of hardened terrorists entering the U.S. criminal justice system, or worse, being released to rejoin al-Qaida.

He indicated the U.S. defense budget would be sharply reduced.

He has sent a letter to Russian leaders, apparently offering to back off on the ballistic missile defense system that would protect Europe from Iran and North Korea.

These and other Obama administration moves recently prompted former vice president Dick Cheney to charge that Obama is returning to the Clinton-era view of terrorism as a law enforcement issue.
"Now he's made some choices that in my mind raise the risk to the American people of another attack," Cheney said of Obama on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

The Washington Times points out that about 70 percent of airline pilots have military backgrounds. With airport screening less than 100 percent effective, it states, armed pilots provide a second layer of defense.
“Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots,” the newspaper editorial says.

Source

[kris]

So, you want to have a federally funded program for a private company that helps train their employees to be able to carry a loaded firearm on a jetliner? Isn't that the responsibility of the company? We already pay for the federal air marshal program, isn't that enough?

It could be looked at as the government paying to train armed guards to prevent bank robberies.

There are other ways to prevent hijacked planes, rather than having another tired, overworked variable to the equation in my opinion.

[HotZ28]

The point is, this is the first step toward disarming the pilots. I never suggested that the federal gov should pay for the training, in fact, if 70% of the pilots have prior military experience, they should not be required to go through some refresher course every 6-months, that is a waste of time & money! Armed pilots act as a deterrent, the same as an armed guard at a bank, whether they use the weapon or not.

[thegladhatter]

Originally Posted by kris

So, you want to have a federally funded program for a private company that helps train their employees to be able to carry a loaded firearm on a jetliner? Isn't that the responsibility of the company? We already pay for the federal air marshal program, isn't that enough?

The more the better!

Let's say you own a trucking company that ships explosives via truck. You interview candidates as drivers.
1st interview:
You: How close can you drive to the cliff's edge and get the product there?
Candidate #1: Oh, REAL close. I'm very skilled!
Candidate #2: Oh, I would stay far away from that cliff. It would be safer, even with my skills.

Which would you hire? Candidate #2 would be the prudent choice.

Make the airlines as safe AS POSSIBLE!

[blazee]

Originally Posted by bagwanshrirashnish

The more the better!

Let's say you own a trucking company that ships explosives via truck. You interview candidates as drivers.
1st interview:
You: How close can you drive to the cliff's edge and get the product there?
Candidate #1: Oh, REAL close. I'm very skilled!
Candidate #2: Oh, I would stay far away from that cliff. It would be safer, even with my skills.

Which would you hire? Candidate #2 would be the prudent choice.

Make the airlines as safe AS POSSIBLE!

So they should hire pilots that don't like to fly on cliffs?

[HotZ28]

As Paul Harvey would say; "and now for the rest of the story"

Feds Deny Obama Will Take Guns Away from Pilots

Federal officials and the airline pilots union are denying a report that the Obama administration is seeking to end a program that trains pilots to carry guns in jetliner cockpits.

An editorial published in the Washington Times on Tuesday stated that “President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.”

About 12,000 pilots have been authorized to carry handguns while flying aircraft as part of the Federal Flight Deck Officers (FFDO) program, and the Times article called the administration’s move “completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots.”

But Sterling Payne, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), told Fox News of the editorial: “It’s inaccurate. This program continues to grow. TSA continues to recruit and put new FFDOs on planes, and we continue to train them and do recurring training.”

Congress authorized the gun program following the 9/11 attacks to help prevent terrorists from turning jetliners into flying bombs that could be used to attack key sites like the White House.

The Airlines Pilots Association International, representing more than 52,000 pilots in the U.S. and Canada, issued a statement saying the Times story “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Union representatives “met with TSA executives and were told in no uncertain terms that TSA embraces the FFDO program, that there are no plans to reduce or restrict its growth, and that in fact the agency fully intends to grow and expand the program,” according to the union statement.

“Government representatives acknowledged that the program needs additional funding to achieve these goals, and that they are actively seeking same.”

Source

[ExoticSpotting]

So we can trust airline pilots to operate a several thousand ton flying tin can, with hundreds of people's lives on the line...but we can't trust them with a gun?

I fail to see the logic in that.

[wafrederick]

I know the NRA will step in to stop Obama from doing this.The NRA is way too powerful over Our dumby president Obama.