Originally Posted by
cbn42
Normally, I am against arming people unless absolutely necessary. But given the gun situation in the US, where everyone and their moms can carry guns around wherever they want with minimal restrictions, I don't think it's fair to the TSA to place special restrictions on them. I don't consider the TSA to be a particularly trustworthy agency, but the same concealed carry standards that apply to everyone else should apply to them.
As I said upthread - and for the same reasons as you - I don't have a problem with armed personnel securing airports, especially in a gun rich society such as the USA. There clearly is a risk of a mass shooting incident occurring, especially around security checkpoints which are a dense gathering of non-screened people.
However I don't think that TSOs are the people for the job. I don't think that anyone should be allowed to carry a concealed weapon into the secure area of the airport because, once inside, they could hand the weapon to somebody else for use in flight. This could, of course, happen with an un-concealed weapon but it is likely that somebody will notice that the person who should have the weapon doesn't.
Obviously there must be some exceptions, such as bodyguards for VIPs and FAMs, but these people are highly skilled and ruthlessly background checked. Unfortunately the TSA is notorious for inadvertantly employing criminals and I personally believe that there is strong potential for a terrorist attack to be carried out via a TSO carrying the weapon into the secure area and handing it to the perpetrator.
The other problem with allowing TSOs with concealed weapons permits to arm themselves is that few if any of them (realistically only former LEOs/military) have the skills to effectively engage an attacker without posing a risk to bystanders. You're also assuming that they have appropriate weapons and that these weapons are well maintained.
Finally any TSO with a weapon is vulnerable to having that weapon stolen by the person they are screening and used against them - admittedly more unlikely with a concealed weapon than with one openly carried on the hip or wherever. This means that the TSO will have to constantly safeguard the weapon which will distract them from their main task of screening.
To summarise I can certainly see a need for openly armed personnel at security checkpoints and other areas of the airport. But they need to be dedicated personnel who are extensively background checked, properly trained, appropriately armed and not involved in the screening process.