on the Transportation Security Administration's Advanced Imaging
Technology scanners and their abusive pat-down searches. Their website
billed it as:
This one-day public conference will be devoted to anMany great panelists participated including Jim Babb of We Won't Fly.com.
assessment of the TSA airport security procedures and recommendations
for reform. Experts in law, aviation security, and health safety,
advocates for flyers rights, privacy protection, and religious freedom,
as well as lawmakers and policy advisors will participate in the event.
The event will also include a rich media display, with images from
airport protests, YouTube videos, and campaign materials.
Among the other speakers were renown analyst Edward Luttwak
who pointed out that the TSA is getting it all wrong by searching every
passenger attempting to board a plane. They are ignoring the
recommendations of the International Air Transport Association as outlined in Vision for Intelligent Aviation Security.
At the end of the conference I asked the panel that included Jim Harper of the Cato Institute and New York city councilman David Greenfield
about allowing selected passengers to carry guns on planes as a way to
enhance security. It came as no surprise that Councilman Greenfield
opposed the idea. What was surprising was Jim Harper objecting to it! An
odd position for a representative of an allegedly libertarian think
tank to take.
On a humorous note, when I asked the above question I happened to be standing next to Ralph Nader
who thought it was quite funny. He later characterized it as
"impertinent". Obviously there are many who just don't get what guns
and armed citizens are really about. To the best of my knowledge there
are no studies that show that disarmed passengers are safer than armed
ones. Matter of fact, we do know that most, if not all, successful
terrorist incidents have had unarmed passengers as their victims.
