Opposing view: Even well-trained
poice can have their weapons used against them
The recent call to arm pilots has a disturbingly
familiar ring -- reminiscent of cries to arm schoolteachers following the 1999
Columbine High School massacre. Yet when educators looked beyond the worst
possible scenario to the most likely, the idea of handgun-toting teachers lost
out to common sense and public safety.
Before our nation barrels toward making flight crews SWAT teams in the
sky, the possible unintended consequences of armed pilots should carefully be
considered.
A handgun on every plane would
mean that the weapon, by definition, would be potentially available to every
passenger: from terrorists to unruly or suicidal travelers. Unrealistic
scenarios in which criminals meekly surrender at the mere sight of a handgun
shouldn't be our guide. Real life is different. Even highly trained police
officers all too often have their service weapons turned against them by
suspects. One study found that 21% of officers killed with a handgun were shot
with their own weapon.
Experience also
teaches that when police fire their weapons, they sometimes make grave mistakes
in deciding when deadly force is justified. It is naive to believe that pilots
will fare any better, especially when they will have the additional pressure of
flying the plane while fending off an attack.
Recognizing the simple physics of handgun possession at 30,000 feet,
another serious threat is unintentional discharge. Many handgun models,
including popular brands used by law enforcement officers, can fire when dropped
or bumped. The danger of such "drop fires" can only be magnified in an airplane
cabin's close quarters: a bullet damaging key flight controls, injuring a fellow
pilot or piercing the hull of the jetliner.
Clearly many necessary steps can be taken to protect pilots and
passengers, short of arming pilots, such as dramatically improving screening on
the ground and reinforcing cockpit doors in the air.
If armed personnel are to be on airliners, then they
should be full-time law-enforcement personnel whose only responsibility is to
protect passengers and crew, with a full range of response options available to
them. But in any case, deadly weapons should be a last, not first, resort.
Measures aimed at preventing attacks should
be the focus, rather than pinning our hopes on shootouts at 30,000 feet.
Kristen Rand is legislative director of
the Violence Policy Center.
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