Sunday April 28, 2:13 pm Eastern Time
Reuters Business
U.S. to decide this week on stun guns in cockpit

By John Crawley

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. government plans to decide this
week whether it will let airline pilots carry stun guns in the cockpit, an
anti-terror measure that key officials favor over arming crew members with
hand guns.

While government and industry sources believe the U.S. Transportation
Department will grant at least provisional authority for airlines to arm
their flight deck crews with those devices, pilots frustrated with the
administration on their call to carry firearms will push their case in
Congress.

The new aviation security law permits the U.S. government to decide whether
and how to arm pilots.

Republican leaders on the U.S. House of Representatives transportation
committee plan to submit legislation on Tuesday that would let pilots carry
hand guns as a last line of defense, a congressional aide said. A hearing is
scheduled for Thursday.

While details were being hammered out over the weekend, the measure authored
by Republican Reps. Don Young of Alaska and John Mica of Florida could
deputize pilots as federal agents. That would give them the same liability
protection as undercover air marshals.

U.S. officials would not comment but there have been strong signals from
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, the White House, and airlines that
the government would at least permit carriers to voluntarily arm crews with
stun guns, which shoot an electric charge to disable an attacker.

Transportation officials met with United Airlines (NYSE:UAL – news) and
leading stun gun manufacturer, TASER International (NasdaqSC:TASR – news),
last week to discuss a report from the carrier about its tests of TASER
equipment. United has purchased 1,300 TASER stun guns and has trained about
a third of its 9,000 pilots in how to use them, the airline said.

It is not expected the Transportation Department will allow pilots to be
armed with hand guns, but government and industry sources said it was
possible the Bush administration could open the door to that option over
time with strict limits.

Mineta has said he favors nonlethal force in the cockpit. Homeland Security
Director Tom Ridge also opposes hand guns for pilots, and the White House
was cool to pilot appeals for U.S. President George W. Bush to support their
position.

Denny Breslin, a veteran American Airlines (NYSE:AMR – news) captain, said a
petition to support pilots carrying guns had nearly gathered 40,000
signatures.

“Who has more concern than the pilots themselves that the flight reaches the
ground safely?” Breslin asked. “So give them the weapons.”

The Air Transport Association, representing the airlines, said pilots with
guns would create liability and safety risks.

Pilots say stun guns, which are used nationwide by local law enforcement,
are unreliable and impractical. TASER says a real gun could easily be
misfired in the close quarters of a cockpit.

“This stun gun will absolutely put you right on the ground every time,” said
Phil Smith, chief executive of the Scottsdale, Arizona, company