[joshboles]

While I agree with your sentiment, the TSA agents are not the ones to be packing heat. They are asking for more local police presence.

"The screeners, who earn up to $30,000 annually, have not requested to carry guns themselves, but they do want an armed security officer present at every checkpoint, Cox said."

[jonlucc]

Armed security officer is not the same as a police officer.

[lwhalen]

I'd prefer to see armed citizens myself.

[krapp]

There are already plenty of armed citizens in the US. If this incident follows precedent, gun sales will have spiked dramatically.

[lwhalen]

Those armed citizens are not allowed in airports by law. There's a reason airports, along with schools, post offices, the state of California, etc, are called 'victim disarmament zones' by the concealed-carry crowd.

[krapp]

I've heard that argument. For me, it breaks down in that it assumes there's a correlation between the number of people carrying guns, and the number of responsible people carrying guns who will actually react properly when something happens.

[lwhalen]

I've yet to hear of a lunatic trying to shoot up a police station, a gunshop, or a firing range - places where guns are prevalent. Also, Israel arms their teachers[1] and school shootings have 'magically' gone way down. I'd like to think that the deterrent effect would play a significant role in keeping our kids and ourselves safe, aka the "an armed society is a polite society" argument.

[1] - http://www.examiner.com/article/arming-teachers-worked-for-i...