Brunswick, GA–After much debate over the issue of whether passenger airline pilots can be trusted to carry firearms into the cockpit, the first group of pilots will begin training at FLETC next week. The pilot training program allows volunteers who meet federal “screening” requirements and pass arbitrary psychological evaluations to carry .40 caliber semiautomatic weapons during flight. Why revolvers or other calibers aren’t allowed is anybody’s guess.
“Not every plane is going to have a pilot who is armed,” Airline Pilots Association spokesman John Mazor explained, “but you won’t know if your pilot is armed or not, and that’s the deterrent.”
Hmmm. I wonder if firearm possession only works as a criminal deterrent when you’re above 10,000 feet…