W.Times editorial: Obama secretly ends FFDO program?

[Tristar]

I've had that gun pointed at me on three different occasions (in the cockpit) while the idiot owner of the gun was unlocking the trigger lock. I was not happy.

I can't say I blame you there - there is NO excuse for that. It does point to one of the flaws in the program as it exists today - the gun should be holstered and left alone from the start of the day to the end (assuming no bad guys show up). Any time it is handled increases the risk of an accidental discharge. Taking it in and out of boxes/bags, locking and unlocking trigger locks, holstering/unholstering is pure nonsense from a safety stand point. Get up, get dressed, put it on, don't screw with it.

 

[Lear70]

I can't say I blame you there - there is NO excuse for that. It does point to one of the flaws in the program as it exists today - the gun should be holstered and left alone from the start of the day to the end (assuming no bad guys show up). Any time it is handled increases the risk of an accidental discharge. Taking it in and out of boxes/bags, locking and unlocking trigger locks, holstering/unholstering is pure nonsense from a safety stand point. Get up, get dressed, put it on, don't screw with it.

Now wait, that would actually make sense, and we can't have any of THAT on Flightinfo...

 

[DiverDriver]

That will never happen again. Kill everybody in the back, we don't care, but we are not opening the door. Period.

Baloney. <bing...bong> "yah, I'd like some drinks / go to the lav"

...bum rushed.

End of story. Good night.

 

[Tweaker]

Flying public. The showbomber was brought down by passengers and not by a someone with a gun. The last time someone used a weapon in the a/c ended up in a tragegy when passenger taking prescription drugs was MISTAKENLY killed. (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/07/airplane.gunshot/index.html).

So, you're not "breaking" anything new to me. Actually, I don't care anyway.[/quote]

Then how about a tall cool glass of STFU?

The only "mistakes" made that day were by both the individual who left the house without taking his "good dog" medication and then acted as if he had evil intent and yelled at length in a threatening manner, including the magic "Bomb" werd as well as his loved ones who did not ensure that he was medicated.

Court ruling and survey says...Good shoot.


If you make all the right moves with the information available at the time, you are a fool to allow armchair buttsniffs like Flying Corporal to tear you down with their after action omnipotence.

 

[Monster Buck]

]Your whole 'airline' career is probably post 9-11.[/b]

Just so you know, PRIOR to 9-11, the procedure for Hijackings was "cooperate don't escalate". In essence give the bad guys what they want, take them where they want to go and the situation will end eventually.

Well, on 9-11 the bad guys took full advantage of that policy. The second WTC crew were standing aallllllll the way in the back of the AC.

Had the policy been different and some index fingers got stuck in some eyeballs we probably wouldn't have a site called 'ground zero'.

Your ASSumption is incorrect, I was a captain at the commuters with over 6000 hours on 9-11. Nice try though, come teach me oh wise one.imp:

 

[bubbers44]

I thought all airline pilots back then were required to see the Barney Fife video every year.

 

[dillfer]

The biggest problem with the program is that it takes tax payers money to fund it. If you want an FFDO you ought to pay for it yourself or have your company reimburse you. Shouldn't take tax payers dollars. I can't believe all the anti-gun rhetoric on this site, very disturbing. Is there that much ignorance with firearms in this country? Or are they the ones that are just talking the loudest here?

"Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." A fitting quote.

 

[Jim Smyth]

The tax payers literally save MILLIONS per year with this program. It cost $1500 per FFDO to run him/her through the course. For every FFDO that steps up to the plate to defend his airline the traveling public and his country ("FOR FREE MIND YOU AND ON HIS OWN DIME AND OWN TIME OFF!") from the threat of terror, there's one less fam at 70K+ a year needed in the back end. Any time you don't think this program is warranted just watch the 911 footage again!

 

[HighSpeedClimb]

The whole POINT of the FFDO program is deterrance.

Somebody gets it!!

 

[Hamburger]

Its amazing how neo-conservative fools such as Rush, Coulters, Rove and Cheney etc are ruining the Republican party with their fear mongering and nonsensical talk.

As you can see another myth debunked but not after it has done harm to the populace.

When people get their information from the Rev. Moon's Unification Cult newspaper and are proud that their marching orders come from a drug addict, there's not much left that amazes me any more.

 

[Tweaker]

FFDO training is paid for by the FFDO's in large part:

- expenditure of his vacation time to go to BF NM for 8 days rather than spend it on hookers and blow/with loved ones. $1-2000/priceless.

- paying for their own room/board at FLETC. $250

- cost to practice and for ammunition, range time, and time and efforts for same. - $40 per event

- time spent maintaining awareness of relevant current security information, protocols, and SOP changes. $ what is your time worth?


- liability insurance and chance of putting your employment at risk. That is hard to put a price on, but clearly has a financial factor in this discussion.

If you think these guys are in this for the wrong reasons, you are really reaching in an attempt to feel that your own hoplophobic tendencies are justified. Most likely, if you really hate the FFDO concept, you also hate firearms freedoms in general, and you don't spend significant time on critical thinking as a rule.

As far as a bad apple or a less than professional product;
1) They are everywhere in every group of individuals. Look at congress, the good seed is the anomaly, not the rule.
2) You get what you pay for. FFDO spend thousands of dollars for what you internet d-bags claim is for power, glory, or inadequate phallus issues. He is paid nothing at all, but the intangible that resides in his own self-respect and that of those he shares his values with.

I have met you wankers to do battle on the field of ideas, and it is quite lonely out mhea.

 

[weasel_lips]

FFDO’s are patriots that volunteer their time for our country. Doing something for your county is an alien concept to the average selfish American. The FFDO program is a deterrent to another 9/11 scenario and it adds a FINAL layer of protection should all else fail in the security process.