Boxer signs on to armed-pilot bill Anti-gun senator prefers firearms in cockpits to fighters downing planes Posted: July 10, 2002 By Jon Dougherty =C2=A9 2002 WorldNetDaily.com A well-known anti-gun senator has agreed to su= pport=20 legislation that would allow airline pilots to fly armed because, she says,=20 it is better than ordering planes destroyed by U.S. fighter jets in the even= t=20 of a hijacking.=20 Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. =20 Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said at a press conference in Washington today= =20 that she is lending her support to legislation sponsored by Sen. Bob Smith,=20 R-N.H., that would, essentially, bypass a decision made earlier by=20 Transportation Security Administration Director John Magaw not to allow guns= =20 on the flight deck. "I think this is the first time I have ever stood with=20 Sen. Smith on an issue that has involved guns," Boxer said in announcing her= =20 decision. "However, I have decided that until I am satisfied with the number= =20 of air marshals on commercial flights, this bill is a necessity =E2=80=93 in= deed, it=20 is a matter of life and death."=20 Boxer said a primary reason why she decided to support Smith's bill was=20 because "if a plane is considered under the control of hijackers, it will be= =20 shot down by our military." The Bush administration adopted a policy after=20 the Sept. 11 attacks =E2=80=93 in which three hijacked airliners were flown=20= into the=20 World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon =E2=80=93 calling for shooting do= wn=20 commandeered airliners using fighter jets. "Imagine how the survivors of all= =20 those passengers and crew will feel if we failed to allow pilots to have gun= s=20 to defend the plane and a American flight was brought down by the American=20 military," she said. "I know how it would make me feel as a United States=20 senator, and it would be a heart break I would carry for the rest of my=20 life."=20 =20