Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 12:41:23 -0400 To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com> Subject: J. Neil Schulman Response to: FREE GUN TRAINING FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 09:28:46 -0700 From: "J. Neil Schulman" <jneil@mediaone.net> Reply-To: jneil@pulpless.com X-Accept-Language: en To: info@frontsight.com Subject: J. Neil Schulman Response to: FREE GUN TRAINING FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS
Original message follows my reply:
Dear Dr. Piazza,
In an email which I sent out yesterday, I wrote:
"If you disarm the people -- if you make them give up their guns when they get on a plane, go into a post office, get taken out to the ball game -- then there will never be enough police officers to go around when the bad guys decide to strike, without warning, at a time and place of their own choosing.
"The jetliners that took down the World Trade Center, a city of 50,000 daytime inhabitants, and that exploded into the very military headquarters of the world's only remaining superpower, were taken over by a few thugs with boxcutters.
"If the airline pilots had guns this couldn't have happened.
"If the flight attendants had guns this couldn't have happened.
"If local police officers who fly were allowed to carry their guns with them, warned only to switch to frangible ammunition, this couldn't have happened.
"If I -- or someone like me -- a fat middle-aged American couch potato, but with police-quality training in firearms, had been allowed to carry my Glock 23 pistol on one of these flights, this couldn't have happened."
It is not enough to arm the pilots, though that may well indeed prevent hijackers from turning jetliners into deadly missiles.
I happen to think that passengers have more value than excess fuel to be jettisoned if necessary for the convenience of the airline.
I hold CCW licenses issued by three states. I've passed numerous background checks. My fingerprints are on file with the FBI and numerous other police agencies. I have taken and passed college level courses in police work, qualified numerous times on police ranges, and received certification that I passed California Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)..
Until my Second Amendment rights to carry my handgun with me when I board an aircraft is recognized, I intend to board commercial aircraft only as a last resort, when all other transportation options have been eliminated. I urge all Americans to boycott commercial aviation to whatever extent is practical until the value of our lives is given equivalent worth to the value of the aircraft.
J. Neil Schulman, author Stopping Power: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns Webmaster, The World Wide Web Gun Defense Clock
info@frontsight.com wrote:
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> September 12, 2001
>
> CONTACT:
> Dr. Ignatius Piazza
> 1.800.987.7719
> Fax: 831.684.2137
> e-mail: info@frontsight.com
> http://www.frontsight.com
>
> FREE GUN TRAINING FOR COMMERCIAL PILOTS
>
> LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: In the aftermath of the World Trade
> Center attack, Front Sight Firearms Training Institute,
> which claims to be the world leader in providing intensified
> courses in the defensive use of firearms for private
> citizens and law enforcement alike, feels they have the
> answer to stopping commercial airliners from being used as
> ballistic missiles. Front Sight will train every commercial
> pilot in the world FREE OF CHARGE in the defensive use of
> the handgun. Front Sight will accept for training all
> certified pilots and co-pilots from all commercial airliners
> that submit a request for training on commercial airliner
> letterhead, designating the pilot and co-pilot to carry a
> handgun in the cockpit to defend access to the airliner. The
> request for training letter must have the notarized
> signature of the airline's chief executive.
>
> Front Sight's Founder and Director, Dr. Ignatius Piazza
> understands that his offer may offend those who lack resolve
> in stopping terrorists from turning airliners into weapons
> of mass destruction. However, he is quick to point out that
> the World Trade Center attack is a new realm of terror, not
> previously witnessed in the world. Prior to the World Trade
> Center attack, terrorists were content to hijack planes and
> divert them to safe landings in exchange for negotiated
> release of imprisoned comrades. In extreme cases, terrorists
> have committed suicide by exploding the grounded plane.
> Airliners have also been targeted with bombs and possibly
> missiles to spectacularly explode in flight, killing all on
> board. The World Trade Center attack was a new form of
> terrorism, where the commercial airliner, loaded with fuel
> for a cross country flight is redirected from the cockpit
> and turned into an accurate missile of mass destruction.
> Front Sight knows this form of terrorism can be stopped
> immediately by arming all pilots and co-pilots and training
> them in the proper methods of defending their cockpits.
>
> "Commercial airliners must be willing to take an
> uncompromising stand that will not allow anyone, under any
> circumstances to access the controls of an airliner," says
> Piazza. "The pilot and co-pilot, are responsible for the
> security of the cockpit. Without a handgun to defend it,
> the cockpit crew is easily defeated. However, when both
> pilot and co-pilot are armed and trained by Front Sight,
> they have the tools, ability, and will to defend themselves
> and repel the murderous intent of terrorists. In an
> emergency, the pilot can fly the plane to a safe landing
> while the co-pilot covers the door of the cockpit- ready and
> willing to use deadly force to prevent anyone from opening
> the door."
>
> Dennis Vied, a retired TWA Captain with 28 years of
> experience flying commercial airliners and Front Sight
> student fully agrees with Front Sight's solution. Captain
> Vied states, "The terrorists knew that they would face no
> opposition to the hijacking, once they managed to get on the
> airplane. All they had to do was threaten to do something to
> a passenger, and they would be allowed access to the
> cockpit. If that didn't work, then they just had to hurt
> somebody, which in this case they did. Apparently they cut
> the throats of two of the flight attendants. The terrorists
> knew they would face no armed opposition, because the
> airline screening process would insure that nobody on the
> airplane would be armed. We have such an abhorrence to guns
> that we fail to allow the good people to arm themselves for
> defense. Therefore they are at the mercy of bad people- in
> this case the terrorists. I sincerely hope that this is a
> wakeup call to America. I think they should arm the crews,
> or at least allow those that want to be armed to do so.
> Otherwise, you're at the mercy of some crazy son-of-a-bitch
> armed with a box cutter! How absolutely absurd! There is so
> much emphasis on prevention, and precious little emphasis on
> the ultimate lines of defense."
>
> Aaron Benedetti, a United Airline 747 co-pilot since 1990 is
> a Platinum member at Front Sight and has already attended
> Front Sight courses in defensive handgun, tactical shotgun,
> and practical rifle. Through Front Sight's training,
> Benedetti is ready, willing and able to defend the cockpit
> of his aircraft if given the proper tools and authority to
> do so. Benedetti states, "We get recurrent training
> regarding hijacking and security procedures, but the
> training centers around placating and negotiating with the
> terrorists to safely land the plane. We are told not to make
> any aggressive move and to work toward a calm outcome. The
> World Trade Center disaster is a real blind spot in our
> training. The attack reveals that perhaps the only way the
> pilots could have stopped it would have been to deny access
> to the cockpit and stop the terrorists from taking over the
> controls of the plane by any means possible. In the future,
> we should consider that with the cockpit doors locked and
> the co-pilot guarding the door with a handgun, calm
> negotiations can still take place via intercom to land the
> plane safely thus avoiding another World Trade Center
> scenario." Aaron Benedetti recommends all airlines to take
> advantage of Front Sight's solution and offer. He returns
> to Front Sight later his year for further training on his
> own.
>
> Lieutenant Bob Redmond, SWAT Commander of Nye County
> Sheriff's Department concurs that Front Sight's training is
> exactly what the commercial airliners need and that they
> should immediately begin sending their pilots to Front
> Sight. Redmond, who sends his SWAT officers to Front Sight
> for firearms and tactical training states, "Front Sight's
> training exceeds levels offered by most if not all law
> enforcement agencies throughout the country. Front Sight's
> training is so good that I want every officer we have in the
> department to attend every course Front Sight offers. If
> airlines sent their pilots to Front Sight, it would be like
> having SWAT officers in the sky."
>
> Mark Donovan, a pilot for Southwest Airlines, who has taken
> over ten Front Sight courses in the last two years finds the
> current situation of unarmed pilots rather incredulous.
> Donavan explains, "The political climate in commercial
> aviation prior to the World Trade Center attack has not been
> conducive to arming pilots. In fact, just the opposite has
> occurred. Airlines have disarmed pilots to the point where
> a terrorist with a box cutter can take over control of a
> plane because no one is armed to defend the plane or
> themselves. Yet, numerous federal agencies are allowed to
> carry a gun on commercial airlines, including such dubiously
> qualified agencies as, Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
> Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, and the
> Smithsonian Institution! Why are federal agents from these
> obscure agencies allowed to carry a gun on board when a
> pilot with firearms training from Front Sight Firearms
> Training Institute is not allowed? My training at Front
> Sight far exceeds anything the federal government offers to
> these agencies." Donovan continues, "If we, as pilots are
> not given the means and authority to defend our aircraft as
> a last means of defense, then who will? It is apparent that
> time was not available to negotiate with the madmen in the
> World Trade Center attack. Clearly, a properly trained
> flight crew with a handgun could have saved countless lives.
> Front Sight offers this training. I urge all federal
> decision makers to seriously examine Front Sight's solution
> to the problem. I believe it is the only credible answer to
> stopping another horrendous tragedy."
> Front Sight is the Solution to Gun Violence
>
> Piazza reiterates, "Front Sight is truly part of the
> solution to gun violence in this country. Everyone agrees
> that law enforcement should have the very best training
> available. Front Sight provides it. And everyone agrees,
> regardless of what side of gun control one stands, that if
> law abiding private citizens are going to own firearms they
> should be trained. Front Sight provides such training to
> levels that exceeds the law enforcement community. Front
> Sight now offers the solution to stopping and forever
> preventing another World Trade Center attack by training
> commercial airline pilots to be that last line of
> defense for their passengers, airline, and our country.
> Front Sight stands ready, willing, and able to serve."
>
> Dr. Ignatius Piazza 1.800.987.7719
> Front Sight Firearms Training Institute www.frontsight.com
> Captain Dennis Vied, retired TWA Pilot 925.455.0133
> Aaron Benedetti, United Airlines Co-Pilot 925.454.5214
> Lt.Bob Redmond, Nye County SWAT Commander 775.751.7002
> Mark Donovan, SouthWest Pilot 702.270.3912
>
>
> http://www.frontsight.com
-- "The other rain is sunshine." --J. Neil Schulman, July 21, 2000
EaZychair.com: http://www.eaZychair.com Tangleweed.com: http://www.tangleweed.com Pulpless.Com Book Catalog: http://www.pulpless.com The World According to J. Neil Schulman: http://jneil.tv The World Wide Web Gun Defense Clock: http://www.gunclock.org
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