Let Cops Carry Firearms on Airplanes

The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (HR 218), signed into law by President Bush, gave active and retired police officers and federal agents the authority to carry concealed handguns anywhere within the United States. This was long overdue. Why shouldn’t an off-duty Los Angeles police officer be able to carry a firearm with him when going to Las Vegas for the weekend? The interstate transportation of concealed weapons by the nation’s more than 500,000 off-duty and retired law enforcement officers was a cost–free force multiplier against crime and terrorism, except in one important arena – commercial airlines. Airlines have always allowed armed, on-duty federal law enforcement officers on planes while traveling on official business, but they are a lot more stringent with state and local police officers. These non-federal officers are required to present a letter from their department head verifying they are traveling on official business, even within their own state. Despite the passage of HR 218, airlines do not allow any off-duty or retired federal, state or local law enforcement officers to carry firearms onboard airplanes. When Congress authorized airline pilots to have a handgun in their cockpits, the airlines did nothing to encourage them to do so. In my conversations with commercial airline pilots, they said their employers would not pay for their weapon, ammo, FAA-required training or storage container. The airlines would not even rearrange a pilot’s schedule so he could attend firearms training. Pilots voluntarily take this training on their own time to protect themselves, their passengers and their employer’s aircraft. Airlines are placing potential liability issues above the safety of their passengers and crews. Congress should mandate that FAA licensed commercial air carriers allow active or retired, on or off duty, police officers and federal agents to carry firearms on aircraft. This mandate would free up scarce Federal Air Marshals from domestic flights and allow them to concentrate on flights originating overseas. It would be an instant Federal Air Marshal force-multiplier. If I ran a commercial airline, I would recognize that terrorists still believe that the airline industry is the best way to conduct another spectacular attack against the United States, as evidenced by the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Detroit-bound Northwest Flight 253. I would do whatever was necessary to protect my company’s employees, passengers and assets. One way would be to place television, radio and full-page newspaper ads in big cities similar to this: In appreciation for your public service, we are offering a substantial fare discount to our nation’s brave active and retired police officers and federal agents when they carry a firearm onboard our airplanes. This discount applies to not only you, but immediate family members that accompany you. Make your reservation today! I would also put ads in local Muslim community newspapers. Between the ads and press releases I’d make, it would generate enough free publicity to more than pay for the discounts and advertising. Knowing how cops love discounts, the entire country’s law enforcement community would fly my airline exclusively, leaving the competition susceptible to attacks because terrorists don’t want to take a chance of encountering an armed off-duty Chicago cop on his way to New York City to see a Broadway play. This would obviously encourage other airlines to adopt, or even sweeten, the same offer. Think about it. An airline that adopts this policy will be as close as it can come to being terrorist-free. It would justify lower insurance rates, and surveys would reveal that most of the flying public would prefer to fly on an airline with an armed law enforcement officer than not. So, will major U.S. airlines adopt my suggestion? Of course not! These same airline executives discourage their own pilots from flying armed, so what evidence is there that they will encourage passengers to do so? This is why Congress needs to act immediately. Then, federal air marshals can concentrate on flights originating outside the country. Domestic law enforcement officers will take care of the threat in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska.