TSA urged to take quicker action on arming pilots

Sens. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Conrad Burns, R-Mont., called Thursday on the Transportation Security Administration to accelerate the training of commercial airline pilots who want to carry guns in the cockpit.

"It is a gaping hole in our national security," said Bunning. "They'll get the message, or they'll lose their money."

The new legislation requires TSA to train all commercial pilots who volunteer for the program within 90 days of the time they apply. It also allows pilots who are or have been members of the Armed Forces or National Guard, or a law enforcement officer who has completed firearm training and psychological testing, to be immediately deputized.

"When we wrote the original armed pilots program, our intent was to create a last line of defense in the case of a terrorist attack," said Boxer. "But TSA has slow-walked the program from day one, denying thousands of pilots their right to be trained in this program and denying the American people the additional security they deserve."

A TSA spokesman denied the agency is moving slowly. "We're training pilots as quickly as we possibly can and doing everything we can to ensure that every pilot that has the desire to carry a gun in the cockpit completes the training," he said.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., will introduce similar legislation in the House.