Safer Skies Alert 04-26-02:
Armed Pilots Petition Deadline is
April 28. |
Rights Watch International
P.O. Box 10684
Raleigh, NC 27605
(919) 664-8565
www.rightswatchorg |
House to Investigate Delays Preventing Pilots
from being Armed -- Please join more than 30,000 others in petitioning
Congress and the President
If you have not already done so, we encourage you to visit the Airline
Pilots' Security Alliance website at
http://www.secure-skies.org
and sign their petition addressed to Congress and the White House. You can
add your voice to the 30,000 plus Americans who have already signed the
petition. Please help remind Congress and the President that a growing
number of concerned citizens want pilots armed now. The petition will
close on Sunday night at midnight (April 28), and will be presented to
Rep. John Mica (R-FL) who is spearheading Congressional hearings on this
issue next week.
Despite repeated breakdowns in airport security, the administration
continues to delay implementation of the one plan that will make air
travel safer, arming pilots!
Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, has
decided to formally look into this issue. He has scheduled hearings for
May 2 Gun Owners of America plans to submit written testimony and several
pro-gun pilots will be appearing in person to testify as well.
This will be followed up by a press conference led by Representative John
Hostettler (R-IN) and Senator Bob Smith (R-NH). Other congressmen, pilots
and family members of 9-11 victims will be on hand.
We must be sure to give these brave Americans the ammunition they need to
achieve these goals. Remember, we must make our voices heard above that of
Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta who, as a Congressman, regularly
received the endorsement of Sarah Brady’s Handgun Control!
"I don't feel we should have lethal weapons in the cockpit," Mineta told
reporters in March.
Let’s remind Congress and the President that 73 percent of airline pilots
-- and more than 75 percent of the American public -- support measures to
arm pilots in airplane cockpits.
ACTION:
Please go to
http://www.secure-skies.org and sign the APSA petition in support
of arming our pilots before Sunday night at midnight (April 28).
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PETITION:
"It has been more than seven months since the terrorist attacks of
September 11. We have since seen the disappointing results of an
over-reliance on passenger screenings to keep terrorists off our aircraft.
We know that with more than 100,000 Federal Air Marshals required to
adequately protect our flights, that program will never be viable.
"We expect the proposed new cockpit door will significantly slow attempts
to breach the flight deck, yet there is no such thing as an impenetrable
door. Moreover, the door is often opened for physiological needs, thereby
turning a barrier into a passageway.
"Too much time has already been wasted in the quest for improved airline
security.... Common sense and logic dictate that the men and women we
trust each day with our lives when we board an airliner can and should be
trusted with firearms in order to provide the critical last line of
defense. An American fighter shooting us down or needlessly subjecting
ourselves to another fatal airborne attack simply because pilots are not
armed should never be allowed to happen.
"Please provide the American people the protection they deserve by
establishing a program to train and arm our pilots NOW!!" |
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