By Judy Keen
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says pilots should not be allowed to keep guns in cockpits to thwart hijackings.
''I don't think we want to equip our pilots with firearms,'' Ridge said in an interview. ''That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.''
White House officials say Ridge's view reflects the thinking of President Bush, who has not commented publicly on the issue.
Ridge's opposition echoes Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Saturday that he, too, opposes pilots' demands for firearms to defend cockpits. Mineta said he would support stun guns, which use electrical current to temporarily disable an attacker. Ridge did not express an opinion on stun guns.
Ridge's and Mineta's opposition makes it unlikely that the Bush administration will permit guns in cockpits. John Magaw, head of the new Transportation Security Administration, will decide, but not ''in the immediate future,'' said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for Magaw.
USA TODAY asked readers to submit questions about terrorism to Ridge. He is the first head of homeland security, a post created after terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11.
A third of the 393 people who submitted questions asked about aviation security. Many pilots, flight attendants and passengers endorsed the idea of arming pilots. ''Why can I not have one last chance to save my passengers and crew?'' asked J.J. Lowers, an airline captain from Orange County, Calif.
''Where do you stop?'' Ridge replied. If pilots carry guns, he said, railroad engineers and bus drivers could ask to do the same.
The Air Line Pilots Association supports letting pilots carry guns on a voluntary basis, provided they receive training.
Some pilots say guns would help deter hijackers. Other pilots and some aviation safety experts say guns would create new hazards: pilot distraction, accidental discharge or theft.
United Airlines said last week that it will train pilots to use stun guns, even though the devices haven't been approved by federal aviation officials.
In
response to the Sept. 11 attacks, domestic airlines have strengthened
cockpit doors with steel bars. By April 2003, jets must be equipped
with doors that cannot be broken down and can resist small-arms fire.
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