"Arming pilots, having air marshals on board, having other law enforcement trained in a situation where they are in an aircraft so that they could use their weapons if there were an event - all of these are part of the layers of defense that we want to build into the aviation system."

Chertoff revealed that the Bush administration has now taken an active role in training civilian air crews in firearms use.

"We're training flight deck officers - people on the flight deck - to arm them," the top security man explained.

Chertoff's recommendation that U.S. pilots be armed flies in the face of advice from Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who had long been opposed to the measure - despite support from the pilots union and the National Rifle Association for the move.

Mineta began to shift his position last July, however, after the House of Representatives voted 310 to 113 to give pilots guns and ousted the head of the new Transportation Security Administration, who opposed the idea.

Mineta told the House aviation subcommittee at the time that he had asked the TSA's new chief, retired Coast Guard Adm. James Loy, to reconsider the idea.

Editor's note:
Get the USS Ronald Reagan Cap FREE – Click Here Now
Jimmy Carter – Get NewsMax’s Special Report "Carter Unmasked" – Click Here Now!
Get the Picture That Made America Proud on 9/11 – Click Here

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Homeland/Civil Defense
Bush Administration
Guns/Gun Control