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March 04, 2004

The Same Place Lost Socks Go

I'm in favor of arming pilots in the cockpit. I'm also in favor of said weapons not getting lost on a regular basis.

"In the last 60 days, we believe 300 weapons have been misplaced," said Dean Roberts of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. "We don't know where those weapons will end up."

And why is it happening?

Pilots blame TSA policies that require them to check their weapons with passenger luggage when they deadhead, which means to fly as a passenger between routes they're scheduled to pilot.

The article goes on to state that even the National Zoo Police are allowed to do concealed carry on the airlines; I suppose it brings me great comfort to know that should Al Qaeda ever threaten our giant pandas with a 747, we'll be able to foil their fiendish plot.

While I'm not thrilled by the idea of pilots walking down the aisle with a gun at their side, if only because of the ease of a non-readied weapon being taken from someone whose attention has drifted, surely the weapons could be stored in the cabin, rather than at risk in the wild of the luggage handler's realm.