Sunday, November 7, 2010

Pilot's Gun Lost

After 9/11 there was a big push to arm the pilots. Like everything else with guns there's a downside. The question is does that downside outweigh the upside. Do incidents like this and all the other acts of misuse of pilots' guns outweigh all the problems they've prevented or stopped?

Both parts of the equation are unknown to us.  Take the gun in today's story for example, we'll probably never know what happens with it and how much damage, or good, people end up doing with it.  Same goes for the prevented hijackings, the deadly incidents that just don't take place.

It's a fairly clear choice for me, and not because I've already made up my mind about guns.  I'm thinking if you arm professional pilots, or any other group for that matter, you're going to have problems.  The 10% theory will kick in, the depressed ones, the alcoholics and prescription pill addicts, the wife beaters, and the other problem types among them will now be armed.  The stakes will go up, the damage will increase.

The benefit of preventing attempted hijackings can be accomplished in other ways. This does not depend on armed pilots.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment. 

3 comments:

  1. I think the bigger concern here is if "the depressed ones, the alcoholics and prescription pill addicts, the wife beaters, and the other problem types" are flying planes filled with a couple hundred people, moving hundreds of miles an hour and traveling thousands of feet in the air. You should probably worry about addressing that issue first.

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  2. MikeB: “The 10% theory will kick in, the depressed ones, the alcoholics and prescription pill addicts, the wife beaters, and the other problem types among them will now be armed. “

    Why the hell are they flying a passenger plane then?

    Looks like Colin beat me to it. No surprise, everyone who reads this is going to have the same immediate reaction.

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  3. Oh, yeah, I forgot, no airline pilot ever got in trouble for drinking on the job. And, I'm sure none of them suffer from any of the other 10% problems.

    I've got an idea, pilots who want guns don't need to do the background check. How's that sound.

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