Pilots and Guns

A reader who is a pilot commented on this story in a previous post, saying that, as yet, he had not heard anything about this. Here is the story, in the Washington Times.

Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.

How about we not let this happen "quietly"?

Since Mr. Obama's election, pilots have told us that the approval process for letting pilots carry guns on planes slowed significantly. Last week the problem went from bad to worse. Federal Flight Deck Officers - the pilots who have been approved to carry guns - indicate that the approval process has stalled out.

Pilots cannot openly speak about the changing policies for fear of retaliation from the Transportation Security Administration. Pilots who act in any way that causes a “loss of confidence” in the armed pilot program risk criminal prosecution as well as their removal from the program. Despite these threats, pilots in the Federal Flight Deck Officers program have raised real concerns in multiple interviews.

If the pilots can't speak up for themselves, let's do it for them. Call your feudal lords...er...representatives and tell them you don't approve. They are putting our safety at risk because they hate guns, especially in the hands of regular people. Pure and simple. To advance their ideology, they don't mind if you die.

The Gunslinger