In light of the tragic attack in Fort Lauderdale, several questions will be asked. Lets start with a short prayer for those injured, the wounded and those who lived through it as well as their families.
If the reports are correct, the shooter picked up his weapon from checked baggage, loaded it and attacked the folks in the baggage area. I know that you can check your weapon and ammo, as long as the weapon is not loaded. We now see a weakness thanks to this incident.
So what can we do? Some will say ban air transport. Some will say, no changes because nothing will work. I wonder if we can make changes to mitigate a repeat. What do you say? In your comments, please remain civil. Discuss. Do not denigrate or get personal.
I will start... Since you must notify the Airline when you are transporting a weapon, we continue doing so. Transport the weapon and ammo in checked bag. The change is that the bag is flagged and goes to a secure area for pick up. The passenger picks up the bag at security, checks the contents and is escorted to transportation.
This will not stop folks from walking into the unsecured areas with weapons, like from the street out front (good thing for me). It will mitigate theft of weapons in transport (my biggest fear during air transport). If someone is planning to use the weapon illegally, they will be discouraged by their interaction with security personnel, they will alert security personnel with their behavior or atleast be away from the general public once armed. Not full proof, but nothing is. It does provide for civil rights and increase security posture for firearms transport.
If the reports are correct, the shooter picked up his weapon from checked baggage, loaded it and attacked the folks in the baggage area. I know that you can check your weapon and ammo, as long as the weapon is not loaded. We now see a weakness thanks to this incident.
So what can we do? Some will say ban air transport. Some will say, no changes because nothing will work. I wonder if we can make changes to mitigate a repeat. What do you say? In your comments, please remain civil. Discuss. Do not denigrate or get personal.
I will start... Since you must notify the Airline when you are transporting a weapon, we continue doing so. Transport the weapon and ammo in checked bag. The change is that the bag is flagged and goes to a secure area for pick up. The passenger picks up the bag at security, checks the contents and is escorted to transportation.
This will not stop folks from walking into the unsecured areas with weapons, like from the street out front (good thing for me). It will mitigate theft of weapons in transport (my biggest fear during air transport). If someone is planning to use the weapon illegally, they will be discouraged by their interaction with security personnel, they will alert security personnel with their behavior or atleast be away from the general public once armed. Not full proof, but nothing is. It does provide for civil rights and increase security posture for firearms transport.
