Keep your calendar clear for the evening of Tuesday, June 5th. Details to follow.
Your Brain-Dead Federal Government
By Greg L | 10 April 2008 | National Politics | 16 Comments
Regulations regarding the use of firearms are supposed to improve safety, right? Here’s a rather plausible scenario where those regulations substantially increase the likelihood of an accidental discharge inside the cabin of a passenger plane. Unbelievable.
The opinions expressed here are solely the views of the author, and not representative of the position of any organization, political party, doughnut shop, knitting guild, or waste recycling facility, but may be correctly attributed to the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy. If anything in the above article has offended you, please click here to receive an immediate apology.
You can follow the discussion through the Comments feed. You can also pingback or trackback from your own site.
16 Comments
Views: 723
Loading ...
As I understand it the manufacturer’s warning not to use the holster with a loaded handgun was REMOVED for holsters delivered for the FFDO contract, at the insistence of the TSA.
Wow. Clearly the people who mandated this have never carried firearms on a regular (or any other) basis. It’s a nice “feel good” to see a combo lock sitting on the holster, but it’s a big red flag to those of us who know you don’t perform any alterations to your handling equipment. And that click at the end of the video is every reason why.
Having worked around TSA in the course of my duties, this is typical. We advocated a portable lock box, but TSA told us that we didn’t have a clue. What do you expect from an agency that won’t issue metal badges to their officers?
Howdy Rob!! While I agree there shouldn’t be any alterations, I also feel there should be some attention given to paying attention to detail. When working with loaded weapons, extra caution is needed. The click at the end is why attention to detail is important. If the pilot had noticed the firearm’s position before putting on the lock, that would not have happened. How many carry weapons like that without the safety on? Do police officers carry their weapons without the safety on?
I can see why they wouldn’t issue metal badges to their officers. They do not want them setting off metal detectors in airports. They also do not want hijackers scanning them with metal detectors for a metal badge. Makes perfect sense to me.
That leather holster-padlock setup is probably the most idiotic setup I’ve ever seen.
The real reason that they don’t issue metal badges is that they would disappear at a frenetic rate.
I agree the lock setup is a stupid idea.
Heya Doc,
Agree with you that attention to detail is of the utmost importance when handling firearms, but TSA sets these guys up for failure which this process and this equipment. There are certainly better ways (ie. the lockbox), and if the bureaucrats would listen to people with field experience, this kind of liability can be avoided altogether. That they don’t is a disservice to both the people who work for them and to Joe Six-Pack, who rightly expects a flight free of accidental firearms discharge when he travels.
CORR: WITH this process…
What happens if he gets up to go to the restroom? Do they travel with these firearms in the safety position? I have no quarrel with the pilot carrying a firearm, but i have an issue when it might affect my safety on a flight. I would like to think these pilots are trained to use the weapon they carry as well as qualify to use it like the military and police officers do.
I noticed quite a few posts past 60k, when did that happen?
Medic 64,
Officers generally don’t carry a weapon without safety being engaged assuming the weapon has external safety.
PWC Officers are issued Glock 21 which does not have any External safety so if pull the trigger, it will shoot.
It sure sounds like the way the moronic Mineta would run things,…….OOh, he’s not there anymore, huh,…just some other idiot!
/\/\3|)iç 64,
Safety eh?
The safety is that the gun won’t fire unless you depress the trigger.
Any safety device can fail and as such should not be relied on to protect you from mishandling.
TY Thumper and mnd!!
I wasn’t sure what type of weapon they carried.
/\/\3|)iç 64,
H&K USP Compact in 40 S&W.
It has a thumb safety (similar to the 1911).
Clearly relying on the safety was a bad choice.
Given the location of the hole in the plane it seems likely that the pilot recognized the danger of the holster and was following the 4 rules, which prevented injury.
This is the Bush administration at work…and…if you like George Bush, you’ll love John McCain