apparently, for the first time since airline pilots have been carrying handguns in cockpits (one of the good policy decisions coming out of the 9/11 terrorist attacks), a shot has been fired during a flight...
was a courageous airline captain able to neutralize an attacker, or stop a hijacker from commandeering the flight? uhh, no, it seems there was an "accidental discharge" of the us airways pilot's firearm while the plane was on landing approach in charlotte, nc...
now, in more than 30 years as a firearms dealer, shooter, and collector, i've handled, bought, sold, stripped, cleaned, repaired, and fired around 50,000 firearms by my best guesstimate, and yes, i've had a few (three to be exact) a.d.'s...more on those in a future post...
but can someone tell me how in the hell a pilot could be setting up a bazillion ton aircraft for landing, dealing with multiple radio contacts, and monitoring a dazzling array of computers and gauges, could have the time to be fondling his firearm? was he showing it off to the hot new stewardess over a few drinks? was he cleaning the damn thing? was he sitting there with it on his lap and a bit of turbulence knocked it on the floor?
holy shit, it really inspires confidence in the guy who's holding your life in his ahem...capable, steady hands...
update...it has become apparent (see the video on xavier's blog) that a holster apparently designed by committee and a padlocking! requirement mandated by our good friends at tsa (the stupid asses) were likely significant contributing factors to this accidental discharge...that in no way alleviates culpability on the part of the pilot; he alone was in control of that firearm when it discharged, and he alone could have prevented it...(and the obvious question is, given the absurdity of the factors mentioned above, why in the hell would that firearm be cocked and chambered?).
50,000 is a large number. I would have liked to have known what was the firearm and why it didn't penetrate the shell of the aircraft, and what training the person pulling the trigger had, since it didn't sink in or the training wasn't satisfactory, and isn't this a TSA ploy to insure that weapon regulation on airplanes continues after the Court says 'shall not be infringed'?
ReplyDeletei dunno, earl: from what i've read tsa was reluctant to go with the armed captain decision...and i'm afraid the Court's ruling will be more narrow than we would hope for...
ReplyDeleteand yeah, 50,000 is a lot of guns to have handled, and the figure is probably low...keep in mind that our firearms volume was tripled by pawn transactios (pawned guns are handled the same as retail; entered into dealer logs and require 4473's and nics checks when redeemed), and we also did a lot of law enforcement business...
that probably played a part in my burnout; i guess i became jaded and don't collect anymore or shoot actively other than a session to keep my eye in a couple times a year...i still appreciate the old stuff; maybe i'll get back into it someday...thanks for your response...jtc