July Pilot Weapon Order

There's been a recent furor over a change in Federal Aviation Regulations last July that ended the rights of pilots to carry guns in the cockpit. The LA Times wrote in late May

For 15 years, Luckey wore a gun at all times in the cockpit--saying it brought "an increased level of responsibility and restriction." In fact, pilots were permitted to carry a gun with the consent of their airline until as recently as July, when the FAA rescinded the program.

Now pilots are battling powerful opposition to providing them with arms. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Transportation Security Administration chief John W. Magaw disapprove of the plan. The airlines also don't favor arming pilots--citing potential danger to passengers and crew members.

Question is: were lots of pilots packing before 9.11? And what happened in July?

The answer is: not much. There was a little noted bylaw in the part of the Aviation Code that was mostly about Federal Officers carrying weapons. That bylaw, part of number 802.11, read

(a) No certificate holder required to conduct screening under a security program may permit any person to have, nor may any person have, on or about his or her person or property, a deadly or dangerous weapon, either concealed or unconcealed, accessible to him or her while aboard an airplane for which screening is required unless:

(1) The person having the weapon is --

(i) An official or employee of the United States, or a State or political subdivision of a State, or of a municipality who is authorized by his or her agency to have the weapon; or

(ii) Authorized to have the weapon by the certificate holder and the Administrator and has successfully completed a course of training in the use of firearms acceptable to the Administrator.

Translated, this meant that pilots could pack heat-- provided that A) their employer agreed and B) they completed a training course. There isn't any evidence this loophole was ever used-- pilots didn't have much incentive to carry and airlines had a lot of incentive to not arm them.

On July 17, 2001, the FAA issued a host of code changes that clarified who could carry a gun, when they could carry it, etc. Almost all of the changes related to the rights of Federal and Local officials to carry weapons. In the revisions, the pilot program was quietly dropped. There's no indication this received opposition from anyone.. the Pilots Unions didn't oppose, and it passed quietly.

That is, until September 11th, when it became a political football.