Sydney Hoeltzli wrote:

As far as I know, I can carry a gun in my small airplane right
here and now and on the ground, as permitted by local and state
law, am I mistaken?

How do local and state laws impact pilots bearing arms, out of
curiousity?

You just have to check your state and local laws. They're all
different. Here is a site that may help:

http://www.nra-ila.org/library.asp

Otherwise, you can call your local police agency and ask them. If
you're in the People's Republic of California, they may faint if you
tell them you want to carry a gun on an airplane.

Tim