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May 22, 2002, 9:20 a.m. Armed Pilots A needed security measure. By Eli Lehrer

ohn W. Magaw, a career federal law enforcer and head of the Transportation Security Administration, told a senatorial committee Tuesday that his agency wouldn't allow commercial airline pilots to carry guns in cockpits. While Magaw made reasoned decision, it isn't the right one for the long term.

At first blush, the case against letting pilots carry guns appears strong. After all, no major airline anywhere in the world allows it. While planes do not explode when bullets pierce their hulls, firing a projectile weapon on board an aircraft does pose some special risks: A bullet puncture would usually require a pilot to make a speedy and perhaps risky descent. In a crowded airplane cabin, likewise, a panicked individual with a gun could easily hit an innocent bystander. Storomza Tsahi, who directs security for Israel's famously safe state-run airline, El Al makes another good argument: "We do everything we can to secure the pilots. If they have guns, then the hijackers know where they can get them," he told me.

And, thankfully, the issue may never come up. The TSA will return the national government to its constitutional duty of protecting the people against piracy and, thus, correct the disastrous failure of private airline security. In many respects, the TSA promises to become a model law-enforcement agency: It will set high training standards, use the best technology, and has even retained high-powered consulting firms to develop customer feedback instruments. Like many of the best private companies, the TSA will constantly improve its performance by asking people how well (or poorly) it does its job. A larger air-marshal corps, better baggage inspection, and secure cockpit doors have already reduced the chances of hijacking.

In a post-9/11 environment it appears impossible that any successful hijacker would survive his crime: He could either repeat September 11, die at the hands of an air marshal, face a passenger lynch mob, or be blown up by an Air Force missile. If a terrorist actually made his way to a cockpit, he would have already left a long trial of bodies in his wake.

And that's exactly why pilots should have guns: Using one would represent a last-ditch effort to save lives. It would create significant danger but not as much as crashing an airplane into a building. Given the size of the American air-transportation system and the infinitesimal chances that terrorists would ever target a Des Moines-St. Louis puddle jumper, many pilots will make a reasoned decision not to carry guns; terrorists couldn't rely on finding one on board. Pilots couldn't use them indiscriminately either: Any well-run airline would fire an employee who brandished a weapon to quiet an inebriated customer. On the other hand, terrorists would have to plan for the possibility that pilots would have weapons. The greatly reduced chances of success could turn even the most dedicated martyrs to other acts of mayhem.

In recent years, the United States has become a much safer nation thanks to community-policing philosophies that rely on partnerships between citizens and law enforcement. Acknowledging that a security agency, even a very good one, cannot do everything itself is the first step towards effective policing. And letting pilots carry weapons is just the sort of modest acknowledgement of its own limitations the TSA ought to make. Congress should overrule Magaw's decision or, at the very least, require his agency to revisit it once it has hired a full staff. Safety demands it.

— Eli Lehrer is a senior editor at The American Enterprise. He is co-author, with former Attorney General Edwin Meese, of the upcoming Revolution in Blue: Seven Principles of American Community Policing.