"Paul J. Adam" wrote...

I'm not particularly pro- or anti- armed pilots. There are significant
administrative issues (how do you secure the weapons between flights?

There have been several proposals addressed to the TSA, but they seem to have
adopted the WORST one of all (probably in their apparent continuing effort to
minimize the number of pilots who will be armed). They have adopted a method
PROHIBITED for Air Marshals and other Law Enforcement Officers (e.g., prisoner
escorts) aboard airplanes!


my main concern is that other more
effective measures for protecting the pilots and their aircraft get
ignored as too difficult or expensive, because "the pilots can be armed
so now there's no problem".

Those other measures, "more effective" or not, will continue to be "too
difficult or expensive" regardless of other measures adopted. The miniscule
number of armed pilots PLUS Air Marshals CANNOT make up for ANY other measures!
However, when the lives of several hundred passengers are at stake, "defense in
depth" is a reasonable measure.


I don't see it as a hugely effective measure - you can't shoot well over
your shoulder while strapped into a seat

That's why specific training has been developed... Besides, the range is VERY
short, so long-range accuracy is NOT a factor in that case.