Copyright 2002 The Seattle Times Company  
The Seattle Times
September 7, 2002, Saturday Fourth Edition
SECTION: ROP ZONE; News; Pg. A3; Close-Up

LENGTH: 259 words

HEADLINE: Foreign airlines balk at plans to let U.S. pilots carry weapons

BYLINE: The Associated Press

DATELINE: Washington

BODY:
WASHINGTON Foreign-owned airlines, noting that many countries don't allow handguns, criticized a U.S. plan to let commercial-airline pilots carry weapons in the cockpit.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to arm pilots after the Bush administration dropped its opposition. The House voted 310-113 in July for a similar plan.

The two versions must be reconciled, and difficult issues remain about how to implement the program in countries that don't allow handguns to be carried. The International Air Transport Association, which represents U.S. and foreign-owned airlines, opposes arming flight crews with lethal weapons.

"What's going to happen when you land in a country that doesn't allow guns?" asked Wanda Warner, the association's spokeswoman. "How is this going to work when American Airlines lands in London or United lands in Rome?"

The heads of 21 major U.S. airlines signed a letter to the Senate opposing the measure because of the possibility that a gun might be misplaced or fired accidentally in a pressurized cabin. Pilots' unions strongly advocate carrying guns as a last line of defense against terrorists.

Arming pilots may conflict with gun-control laws in some states as well as in other countries.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., voted against the plan in part for that reason.

"It does not clearly state that a person prohibited from possessing a gun under current federal or state law will be ineligible to carry a gun under this provision," said Kennedy, one of six senators who opposed the measure.

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