washingtontimes.com— President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.
Mar 17, 2009View in Crawl 4
In all honesty, it's not that big of a deal. They still have air martials on board the planes, aren't we wasting time and money to train the pilots with knowledge the martials already have?
Thomas Jefferson: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neitherinclined or determined to commit crimes. Such laws only make things worse for the assaulted andbetter for the assassins; they serve to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed manmay be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." (1764 Letter and speech from T.Jefferson quoting with approval an essay by Cesare Beccari)John Adams: "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private selfdefense." (A defense of the Constitution of the US)George Washington: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are thepeople's liberty teeth (and) keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than99% of them [guns] by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The veryatmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference [crime]. When firearms go, all goes,we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress)George Mason: "To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them." (3 Elliot,Debates at 380)Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are inalmost every country in Europe." (1787, Pamphlets on the Constitution of the US)George Washington: "A free people ought to be armed." (Jan 14 1790, Boston IndependentChronicle.)Thomas Jefferson: "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." (T. Jefferson papers,334, C.J. Boyd, Ed. 1950)James Madison: "Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people ofother countries, whose people are afraid to trust them with arms." (Federalist Paper #46) "I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."George Mason
Many commentors are pointing out that "there are Air Marshals" on every flight.Um, no. They aren't on "every flight". They are not even on "most" flights. TSA will not publish exact figures, of course, but even they will only go so far as to say, "they are on many flights".When budgets are tight, they are pulled from long distance flights entirely. International airlines (flagged in countries other than the U.S.) are "encouraged" to provide their own security.Wikipedia has an incomplete but still interesting article here:<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Air_Marshal_Service" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Air_Marshal_S ...</a>
@Phramus "Glad you didn't waste all your gun money on getting an education."His comment needed no logical reply, I wasn't addressing your comments hatdrop.I'd like to see a poll of airline customers who feel more safe or less safe knowing the pilot is armed. I have a feeling most of the less safers would only respond that why because they would never do anything to show disagreement with Obama's policies. And don't you think terrorists would be less likely to hijack a plane if they knew the pilot had a gun? Can you honestly say you'd feel less safe on a plane where the pilot had a gun...I mean honestly.
Gun control advocates may or may not be hypocrites and Pres. Obama may be a gun control advocate (I don't know), but that is not something that is supported by the article. Nowhere has he advocated taking away anyone's right to bear arms. That doesn't exist ANYWHERE in the article. You are misunderstanding. As for this being a trust issue, it's not. It's a financial issue. I am not arguing that it is the right tack to take, but it's just not what the article is about. Funding has been changed, that's all. Everything else that was surmised from that one thing is erroneous in the least and a fabrication at worst.Also, believing in the effectiveness of something is not the same as saying that it should exist. For example, slaves may make for higher profits... Saying that I use something in one form doesn't mean that it should exist in all forms or all the time. (Daylight is useful but so is night time... I pay income tax but I don't want to pay a sleep tax... Saying that armed bodyguards should exist is not the same as saying that everyone should be armed.)I don't mean to be insulting, but your logic is flawed, your analogies are off, and you are making baseless assumptions. Again, reducing funding for something is not the same as being against something. I may reduce my spending on cable television, but that doesn't mean that I am against watching cable TV. It's just not the same thing.Understand... that was just an attack piece... one of many to come. Don't be fooled. BTW, that doesn't mean that I support everything that this President does. My biggest complaint to date was his appointment of Timothy Geithner as the Secretary of the Treasury. The same man that was the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve. Considering that the Federal Reserve has done so much damage to this country, it makes me worry about the future of this country. Whoever controls the money controls everything else. He may do a lot of good as POTUS, but that one appointment may just undermine any good that he may be capable of.
Pilots are locked in the c**kpit. They are not supposed to open the door for any reason. So if there is a terrorist in the passenger cabin, why does the pilot need a gun? Just a thought.
rubix89Mar 18, 2009
In all honesty, it's not that big of a deal. They still have air martials on board the planes, aren't we wasting time and money to train the pilots with knowledge the martials already have?
whiteyyyyyMar 18, 2009
YOU ARE RETARDED. Pilots can still carry guns, the process is just harder to complete.
brotoiMar 19, 2009
Chemical dart guns would work, quite well if they contained the right chemicals at the right dosage. Nice suggestion, SoulGrub
nixfuMar 19, 2009
Thomas Jefferson: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neitherinclined or determined to commit crimes. Such laws only make things worse for the assaulted andbetter for the assassins; they serve to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed manmay be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." (1764 Letter and speech from T.Jefferson quoting with approval an essay by Cesare Beccari)John Adams: "Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private selfdefense." (A defense of the Constitution of the US)George Washington: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are thepeople's liberty teeth (and) keystone... the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable... more than99% of them [guns] by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The veryatmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference [crime]. When firearms go, all goes,we need them every hour." (Address to 1st session of Congress)George Mason: "To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them." (3 Elliot,Debates at 380)Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are inalmost every country in Europe." (1787, Pamphlets on the Constitution of the US)George Washington: "A free people ought to be armed." (Jan 14 1790, Boston IndependentChronicle.)Thomas Jefferson: "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." (T. Jefferson papers,334, C.J. Boyd, Ed. 1950)James Madison: "Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people ofother countries, whose people are afraid to trust them with arms." (Federalist Paper #46) "I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."George Mason
brotoiMar 19, 2009
Many commentors are pointing out that "there are Air Marshals" on every flight.Um, no. They aren't on "every flight". They are not even on "most" flights. TSA will not publish exact figures, of course, but even they will only go so far as to say, "they are on many flights".When budgets are tight, they are pulled from long distance flights entirely. International airlines (flagged in countries other than the U.S.) are "encouraged" to provide their own security.Wikipedia has an incomplete but still interesting article here:<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Air_Marshal_Service" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Air_Marshal_S ...</a>
kspanks04Mar 19, 2009
@Phramus "Glad you didn't waste all your gun money on getting an education."His comment needed no logical reply, I wasn't addressing your comments hatdrop.I'd like to see a poll of airline customers who feel more safe or less safe knowing the pilot is armed. I have a feeling most of the less safers would only respond that why because they would never do anything to show disagreement with Obama's policies. And don't you think terrorists would be less likely to hijack a plane if they knew the pilot had a gun? Can you honestly say you'd feel less safe on a plane where the pilot had a gun...I mean honestly.
ceeayyMar 20, 2009
Gun control advocates may or may not be hypocrites and Pres. Obama may be a gun control advocate (I don't know), but that is not something that is supported by the article. Nowhere has he advocated taking away anyone's right to bear arms. That doesn't exist ANYWHERE in the article. You are misunderstanding. As for this being a trust issue, it's not. It's a financial issue. I am not arguing that it is the right tack to take, but it's just not what the article is about. Funding has been changed, that's all. Everything else that was surmised from that one thing is erroneous in the least and a fabrication at worst.Also, believing in the effectiveness of something is not the same as saying that it should exist. For example, slaves may make for higher profits... Saying that I use something in one form doesn't mean that it should exist in all forms or all the time. (Daylight is useful but so is night time... I pay income tax but I don't want to pay a sleep tax... Saying that armed bodyguards should exist is not the same as saying that everyone should be armed.)I don't mean to be insulting, but your logic is flawed, your analogies are off, and you are making baseless assumptions. Again, reducing funding for something is not the same as being against something. I may reduce my spending on cable television, but that doesn't mean that I am against watching cable TV. It's just not the same thing.Understand... that was just an attack piece... one of many to come. Don't be fooled. BTW, that doesn't mean that I support everything that this President does. My biggest complaint to date was his appointment of Timothy Geithner as the Secretary of the Treasury. The same man that was the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve. Considering that the Federal Reserve has done so much damage to this country, it makes me worry about the future of this country. Whoever controls the money controls everything else. He may do a lot of good as POTUS, but that one appointment may just undermine any good that he may be capable of.
garthobrienMar 20, 2009
Pilots are locked in the c**kpit. They are not supposed to open the door for any reason. So if there is a terrorist in the passenger cabin, why does the pilot need a gun? Just a thought.
malvadoMar 23, 2009
Thank you so much for your incredibly intelligent and insightful comment. I don't think I've ever heard anything so original.
anightowlApr 2, 2009
It's a bad thing because people take over planes with box cutters now. Yes, this really has happened.