By: Logan Dierker
Arming Pilots Has Positive Impact on Society's View of Gun Rights
The Federal Flight Deck Officer Program of 2002 impacts society’s view of gun rights in a positive way because of the necessary safety implementations in airport and aviation security. The program should not be expanded to allow Federal Flight Deck Officers (certified pilots) to carry loaded guns in the cabin of the plane and in the airport terminals, which fundamentally brings up the issue of why shouldn’t regular citizens that have carry permits be able to carry on flights, all based on the success of the program since 2002 and the relevant necessary safety and training implementations. There are three main categories in which I will address how arming pilots positively impacts society’s view of gun rights. These are breaches in aviation security, politics, and safety and training implementations.
Research Topic Presentation
Research Findings
Overall, the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program is a very safe program, with few dangerous incident occurrences, that sheds a positive light on arming pilots. The bill legislating the basic format of the FFDO Program was created in a way that makes the program safe for the type of program that it is. Society realizes that aviation security is an extremely important entity for the safety of our citizens and nation. Terrorist acts on flights are very devastating incidents and are to be prevented as much as possible. The FFDO Program is a safety implementation that has a hard time being justified as a poor choice due to its high level of security or aviation.
As far as expanding the program to allow pilots to carry in the cabin of the planes, this should not happen because pilots would then have to essentially be trained as Federal Air Marshals. The pilot’s job is to fly the plane and make sure that the airplane arrives at its destination safely; that includes being able to protect the cockpit from attacks. Arming pilots is the last line of defense for a flight. If arming pilots is the difference between an airplane full of people crashing and an airplane full of people landing safely, then it is difficult for society to say that the FFDO Program is unsafe or unnecessary.