Gun-free Airports?

[Canis-Lupus]

Do I want to pack @ an airport in the legal areas, pistol unseen by anyone? Well I guess that depends on many factors, like why would I pack at any airport knowing there are armed cops and guards who get paid to protect me? Is there really that much I could do with one pistol against a squad of full-auto armed terrorists, or would it stop a bomb hidden away or a truck coming thru the front lobby, ka-pow? No to all I think, but I have a CCW permit and I should be able to provide safety to an arriving guest as they walk with me through dark airport parking so let's hear it, is this another Brady Bunch special or something that makes sense?
Have at it and keep it legal or U may find yourself on a no-fly list next time U try to board!

Canis-Lupus

The chairman of the U.S. House's Homeland Security Committee wants the federal government to keep Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport a gun-free zone. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote Transportation Security Administration officials Monday asking them what they will do to keep guns out of the world's busiest airport in light of a new Georgia law that allows Georgians with carry permits to tote guns into restaurants that sell alcohol, onto public transportation and, supporters say, into the airport. "It is my belief that federal law prohibits individuals from carrying firearms in all areas of an airport and that TSA has the authority to enforce these restrictions," Thompson wrote. "To do otherwise would hamper TSA's ability to keep our airports secure." Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has vowed to lobby Congress and federal officials to mandate that any public facility receiving federal money be declared a "gun-free zone." City officials have promised to arrest anyone carrying a gun at Hartsfield-Jackson. Gun advocates have sued to stop the city from searching or arresting people for "legally carrying firearms." Gun advocates say the new law, which took effect July 1, means people with the proper permits could carry concealed weapons in the non-secure areas in front of airport security gates. Federal law prohibits guns beyond the security gates. Attempts to reach Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), the gun law's champion, were unsuccessful. In his letter to Kip Hawley, assistant secretary of TSA, Thompson asked for the federal security plan for Hartsfield-Jackson. "TSA's inability to protect the general public from individuals carrying concealed weapons into an airport would pose a serious and unnecessary security threat," Thompson wrote. "If TSA management believes that no current law exists to clearly designate areas of an airport within the control and authority of federal transportation officials, the committee may seek legislative action to correct this omission."

[toreskha]

Originally Posted by Canis-Lupus

Do I want to pack @ an airport in the legal areas, pistol unseen by anyone? Well I guess that depends on many factors, like why would I pack at any airport knowing there are armed cops and guards who get paid to protect me? Is there really that much I could do with one pistol against a squad of full-auto armed terrorists, or would it stop a bomb hidden away or a truck coming thru the front lobby, ka-pow? No to all I think, but I have a CCW permit and I should be able to provide safety to an arriving guest as they walk with me through dark airport parking so let's hear it, is this another Brady Bunch special or something that makes sense?
Have at it and keep it legal or U may find yourself on a no-fly list next time U try to board!

The guards aren't paid to protect you, they're paid to protect everyone. Since you're not everyone, you'll have to fend for yourself most of the time.

You probably won't be able to do anything about terrorist attacks, which are few and far between - but then again, you never know. Of course, you're most likely to just get attacked in a parking lot, so it's the same problem you have coming out of Wal-Mart or Kroger at night.

I don't know about everyone else's airport, but at JIA they have it set up so you just drive in to drop people off and pick them up. There's a whole parking lot just for people to wait on someone to call their cell and then go in to pick them up. They really don't make it that convenient to park and walk in, and that's the point. I always carry while at the airport, but I'm always in the car. So that solves that problem, IMO.

[tattedupboy]

Let's hope that the new law stands as is. Antis are going to whine about it no matter what, but as long as those on the right side of the issue stand their grorund, they should be able to deflect any and all attempts to change it.

[Scarecrow]

the antis never stop.. wasn't there just a ruling on this that the second amendment is an individual right?. I could have sworn there was something like that in the news recently.