As a pilot, not as a Democrat or a Republican, I hate it when people can't or refuse to read. Here is the first 4-5 paragraphs of the editorial....

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After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

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.

This looks like completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots. The 12,000 Federal Flight Deck Officers, the pilots who have been approved to carry guns, are reported to have the best behavior of any federal law enforcement agency. There are no cases where any of them has improperly brandished or used a gun. There are just a few cases where officers have improperly used their IDs......


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The most important part of the editorial is what I have hilighted. To paraphrase, it says that money has been diverted from the training program to hire more supervisory staff FOR THE SAME PROGRAM!!!

The guy is diverting money from your training as FFDO's to hire supervisors. He said he was trying to create jobs, right? You have a job with or without the FFDO training, right? The economy is shedding jobs at a clip of 500,000 per month, right? Maybe a few furloughed pilots can get off the street and supervise for the FFDO program. Are you guys really that dense about everything, or is it just certain topics?

We as pilots are trained to trust but verify. Think. Use your head. Don't just simply react. If you are at cruise at FL 350 and your N1 gague drips to 0 do you shut the engine down right away? Or, do you check to see if the other engine instruments look normal?

Some of you guys need to use the same skills you use as a professional pilot when you read the newspaper. Relax, no one hates guns. No one said anything about taking your gun away from you. And quite frankly, we and he (Obama) have got bigger fish to fry. Get over yourselves and stop being so paranoid. Such paranoia make me wonder if you really are suited to carry a gun. (Not that I have any say in it, or have the desire to do so.)


Now with that being said, I am sure the thread is closed. Either because the moderators choose to close it, or no one has the cahonas to respond. (Even though I don't have a gun.) I'm sorry moderators.


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