Comments on: No One Could Have Imagined…

By: Shooting Update — Why Now?

Shooting Update — Why Now? — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:01:58 +0000

[…] to the reporting of the Charlotte Observer the “accidental” discharge of a firearm on that US Air flight pierced the cockpit wall. They have […]

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:56:20 +0000

I should note that “explosive decompression” doesn’t mean that anything explodes, it means that the pressure drop is nearly immediate, and the reason you wear an oxygen mask on military aircraft on altitudes above 40,000 feet – there isn’t time to react if there’s a pressure loss.

Based on the additional reporting I suspect he was unloading the weapon by pulling back the slide and forgot to remove the clip first, or had his finger on the trigger while attempting to unload the weapon.

The pistol will not fire unless the trigger is pulled back. That’s the reason it is so popular with police departments and the military. You have to be a total idiot to have one discharge “accidentally.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:30:15 +0000

oh lovely. safe to carry, maybe, but not safe to give to overgrown kids apparently. tangentially, this is one of the few shows that makes me sad i gave away my tv.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:51:43 +0000

The Air Marshals carry .22 calibers with special bullets to prevent penetrating the skin of the aircraft. This is criminally stupid and won’t stop until there’s a disaster and the law suits start flying faster than the aircraft.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:37:13 +0000

This incident reinforces my decision not to fly, absent utter necessity, until the “terr’ist” threat is behind us. A gun in the cockpit does not make the passengers safer. It is a measure of how crazed with fear we have become that anyone ever thought it was a good idea to permit… even encourage… pilots to carry firearms on civilian aircraft.

Will this incident be a wake-up call? I doubt it.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:21:01 +0000

If force is necessary, a Louisville slugger is the safest thing to use. Any projectile weapon is too risky on an aircraft, and night stick or baseball bat will trump anything but a gun.

A .40 caliber round is just stupid on an aircraft – too much force, too much penetration. Using an autoloader means a full metal jacket to feed properly. It is way too much gun.

It has a magazine and can be loaded and cocked in a second, there is no reason to have it loaded until it is needed.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:07:33 +0000

It seems to me that a firearm is not an appropriate means of self defense in an enclosed and pressurized craft.

How about a tranquilizer dart? I don’t know. Anything that isn’t going to go through the wall of the craft is probably better than anything that could.