Nomen Nescio ] wrote in
:

It seems that some people got the impression that I was talking about
carrying a weapon to just the airport specifically for anti-terrorist
defense.
To clarify, I carry a gun everywhere. Well, actually......my wife
makes me put it on the night table before
bed, and contrary to what some people think.......I don't shower with
it.
I was more asking if people who could legally carry will leave it
behind when they go to the airport and
if they don't leave it behind, what do they do with it.
I have to say that I am surprised at the number of people who feel
that they are careful enough to take
to the air and yet don't think they could carry a gun without
accidentally shooting someone.
Some VERY interesting responses.


I have to say that I don't fault you for your feeling the need to carry a
weapon. Personally, I support the right to bear arms, and I have wielded
weapons in the past. But for a variety of reasons, not the least of which
is the fact that I have children at home, I prefer not to own a handgun
myself.

To your point about being a pilot who is afraid to bear the
responsibility of a firearm, it seems to me that owning a firearm is a
much bigger responsibility than flying an airplane. Most mistakes one
would make in a Cessna are recoverable, while most mistakes one would
make with a firearm would likely result in bodily harm (not necessarily
one's own).

I am surprised that you would minimize the responsibility of owning a
handgun by comparing it to that of piloting a plane. As I am sure you
know, the responsibility of operating and owning a handgun does not end
when you put the gun on your nighttable at night. Your weapon can get
misplaced, lost, stolen, or removed from a gun safe (or nightstand) by a
curious, intelligent, determined pre-teen who wants to show off dad's gun
to his best buddy. For me, that is unthinkable, and the risk is not worth
it. On the other hand, if someone happens to steal the plane that I
rented yesterday to fly to a business trip, I will be concerned and
annoyed, but it's not really even my problem. And if I owned a plane, it
would be unlikely that my children would even be able to get the plane
started even if they could get to the plane for a joyride.

Furthermore, I am somewhat surprised that you would seem to mock someone
like myself who is simply not interested in partaking of the consequences
of drawing a weapon on someone, and possibly taking life from another
person, accidentally or intentionally. Or worse yet, of allowing myself
to be responsible, even if unintentionally, for one of my children taking
a life, quite possibly his or her own.


On an interesting aside, it would seem to me that someone who carries a
gun everywhere he goes, even to bed, is quite possbily a fanatic
extremist. Perhaps not to the same degree as someone who would commit
suicide and/or murder for the sake of his beliefs... But then again, if
you draw your weapon on someone, you are either about to commit one or
the other...

Who am I to judge? Like I said, I support the right to bear arms. I think
violent crime would be reduced substantially if the people who committed
the crimes had the fear of return fire ringing in their ears. But I
prefer not to be barrel-to-barrel with a 2-bit mugger, and I prefer not
to have to worry if I might have left a bullets in the chamber before I
went to bed.

The consequences are much milder if I forget to close my flight plan.