Arming Airline Pilots: A Good Solution to a Bad Problem
             Following September 11th, the nation began questioning the safety of the crew and
             passengers aboard it's airlines flights. Many solutions were proposed, including the very controversial issue of arming cockpit crews with firearms. Commercial airline pilots should be armed because they work in the most crucial portion to the safe operation of an aircraft, the cockpit.
             If you really think hard enough about it, anything on board an aircraft can become a weapon. A beverage cart, a seat belt strap, even a soda can. "The Obvious Solution" states:
             "My 10 year old son thought it was cool when he figured out how to bend and then rip open an aluminum can, tearing it into a sharp edge... (paragraph 3)
             Doing this could easily be used to injure, or even kill the pilots allowing a highjacker to gain access to the controls and boom September 11th all over again.
             A scalding hot pot of coffee could be used to burn and incapacitate the pilots, causing control of the aircraft to be put in the hands of evil. Even a fire extinguisher could be used to blind and then bludgeon a pilot to death resulting in the same situations. The list goes on and on. I think an armed and trained pilot would give the advantage to the crew in any of these situations.
             The cockpit is the heart and soul of an airliner. Instruments, radios, engine controls, flight management systems, Global Positioning Systems, and most important the flight controls. The flight controls are referred to as the stick and rudder. These basically steer the aircraft up, down, left, and right. This portion of the aircraft is the most vital and should be the least accessible part of an airliner. This small room houses everything that controls an airplane and should be defended at all costs and any measures. A gun in the cockpit would do just that.
             A lot of people say, including Secretary of ...