Copyright 2002 The Denver Post All Rights Reserved
The Denver Post
May 3, 2002 Friday 2D EDITION
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A-07
LENGTH: 536 words
HEADLINE:
White House opposing push to put guns in the cockpit
BYLINE: By Bill McAllister, Denver Post Washington Bureau
Chief,
BODY: WASHINGTON - The Bush
administration sought Thursday to slow the movement to arm
commercial pilots, declaring that the president opposes the
effort.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the
president listened to his experts in transportation and
transportation security and they have recommended 'that this not
proceed.'
Earlier a coalition of pilots and a
bipartisan group of lawmakers argued on Capitol Hill that arming
pilots is a cheap and effective way to thwart terrorists. They called
for quick passage of legislation allowing guns in cockpits.
'The question here is the last line of defense and that's
the pilot,' said Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the
House Aviation Subcommittee. Mica is sponsoring the legislation
the committee debated Thursday. 'The pilot should at least have
a fighting chance,' Mica said as the committee considered his
bill Thursday.
Some liberal Democrats
disagreed, saying that Mica has not given post-Sept. 11 security
steps enough time to be effective. The Mica proposal, said Rep. James
Oberstar, D-Minn., 'gives new meaning to riding shotgun in the Old
West.'
As the House committee debated the issue, a
bipartisan group of senators announced plans to introduce similar
legislation in that chamber. 'We trust the pilot with our lives. It's
time to trust him with a firearm,' said Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga.
Until Fleischer spoke, the administration had not
announced its position on the gun question, although both Homeland
Security Director Tom Ridge and Transportation Secretary Norman
Mineta had voiced displeasure over arming pilots. The airline
industry has been publicly neutral, but privately its officials have
expressed concerns over the proposal.
United
Airlines, the nation's biggest air carrier, has embarked on a $ 1
million effort to train its 9,000 pilots in the use of nonlethal
Taser guns that can immobilize an individual with a bolt of
electricity. On Thursday, the company strongly endorsed the guns,
which United vice president Henry P. Krakowski called 'a balanced
solution that would be present in every United cockpit.'
The only administration official at Thursday's
House hearing, Sarah V. Hart, director of the National Institute
of Justice, gave a qualified endorsement to the stun-gun approach
and warned that 'substantial testing is required' before such
weapons are deployed on airlines.
Hart also
stressed that crews need training in the weapons' use, saying they
could accidentally shoot 'innocent third parties' as well as the
aircraft they are meant to protect.
A Boeing Co.
executive, however, said even the risk of a stray bullet downing an
airplane is 'very slight.' Ronald J. Hinderberger, Boeing's director
of aviation safety, said in all previous cases where a gun has gone
off in a company plane the plane has landed safely.
Capt. Stephen Luckey, a representative of the Airline
Pilots Association International, said the proposal to arm pilots
has overwhelming support from pilots and the public. Stun guns are
'a step in the right direction' but pilots want guns, he said.
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