Sky Pilot
As the young men move out
into the battle zone
He feels good,
with God you're never alone
--Sky Pilot, The Animals
I know my place inside your heart
The painted figure that glows in the dark
No you're not mysterious now
I don't worship that sacred cow
--Sacred Cow, Crowded House
Ranger Question of the Day:
If God created the earth,
and we are the sole intelligent life in the universe,
What are all these other planets about?
Why do we need all this other stuff?
________________
into the battle zone
He feels good,
with God you're never alone
--Sky Pilot, The Animals
I know my place inside your heart
The painted figure that glows in the dark
No you're not mysterious now
I don't worship that sacred cow
--Sacred Cow, Crowded House
Ranger Question of the Day:
If God created the earth,
and we are the sole intelligent life in the universe,
What are all these other planets about?
Why do we need all this other stuff?
________________
We have discussed the efficacy of the Federal Air Marshall Program (Sky King), now let's look at the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO)Training Program which has made 85 - 90,000 pilots and crew members eligible to be armed and trained in the use of handguns in commercial aviation.
Ranger opposes the cost and utter mindlessness of this program. Air crewman are not law enforcement, nor should we want them involved in airborne shooting scenarios; they have more important flight duties. One can be a gunfighter or an air crew member, but one cannot be both at the same time.
All of this training for naught. Not once has a gun been properly used to suppress any terrorist activity on an aircraft. In fact, not one Federal Marshall has used his weapon for anything more than impressing a steward or stewardess. Policies are implemented and money spent on counter-terror measures without oversight or reevaluation of the basic premise for the expenditures.
The word terror now incites terror; it is become our sacred cow.
Going now to ground level gun toters in the name of averting terror: Federal law has authorized retired law enforcement officers to carry their weapons concealed upon retirement. When has any retired officer used his weapon to deter an act of terror here in the Heartland. Answer: NEVER.
U.S. Counter-terror policy is based upon a total misunderstanding of the supposed threat and is managed by those with cowboy mentalities. Let's disarm the flight crews and retired law enforcement officers as both policies are ineffective and pointless.
If the U.S. wishes to play cowboys and terrorists let us just arm everybody, creating an illusion of security (which would soon fall as human vice and folly took over.)
Considerations of reality do not seem to be steering the ship of State these days.
Labels: air marshals, arming pilots, federal flight deck officer program, ffdo
posted by rangeragainstwar at 7:32 AM
3 Comments:
The law regarding retired law officers has been on the books for many years, though it may have been recently renewed or strengthened. Retired law officers face multiple threats from criminals they put away that civilians generally don't face, and this is the reason given in the law for them having an interstate right to carry concealed, not the bogus War on Terra.
One might ask why should the police have a right that ordinary civilians do not have in many states, but then, that is one of many rights that police have that civilians do not have, such as the right to pull over random automobiles driven by brown people and harass them for the crime of "driving while brown" (until they see that the driver's license has an Indian name rather than a Hispanic name on it, at which point it's "have a nice day" and they go away), the right to taser someone for the "crime" of calling them a "cunt", and so forth, so this is probably the least of the questions we could ask.
- Badtux the Gun Law Penguin
BT,
Why can't this SF/INFY/Sniper qualified/former CDR of 3 Army mtu's/not be aqllowed to carry a concealed weapon?
How am i different than minimally trained cops?
I believe the police carry was a pwot decision, or so my retired police friends indicate.
jim
They're afraid like Ralphie in a "Christmas Story" that if you get that Red Ryder BB gun you'll shoot your eye out?" Other than that I got nothing. The PWOT is sacred. I believe you are right. Something was needed to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet Union. If you don't have communists under the bed to worry about you need something else. Plus it justifies the expenditure for boatloads of munitions. Dammit Jim -think of those Lockheed Martin executives who just want a new Gulfstream for Christmas - They work hard for the money. Don't they deserve it?
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