On Monday, President Bush (R) signed into law the Homeland Security of Act of 2002, marking the most extensive federal re-organization since the creation of the Defense Department in 1947. Office of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge was named the new secretary-designate of the new Department of Homeland Security. This historic event helped establish one of NRA’s top priorities for the year—as language that would allow qualified commercial pilots to have access to firearms as a last line of defense against terrorist hijackers was included. Under the new law, training is set to begin by the end of February 2003 through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA will train pilots as "federal flight deck officers," which will include training equivalent to federal agents. The new law will also provide the approved pilots with the power to make arrests. Our thanks go out to all of our members who contacted their lawmakers and urged them to ensure the legislation that established the new Homeland Security Department included language that would establish an armed pilots program.
Bush Signs Homeland Security Bill — Includes Armed Pilots Program
Monday, December 2, 2002
Monday, October 12, 2026
As we announced separately this week, ATF has determined that it will use its executive discretion to uniformly suspend enforcement of large portions of the National Firearms Act (NFA).
Monday, October 12, 2026
A lot of has changed for the better in the Nation’s Capital since Donald Trump returned to the White House. But the recent arrest of a young National Guardsman for an apparently harmless breach of ...
Monday, October 12, 2026
A year ago, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree admitted, in a bombshell recording with a gun owner, that the Liberal government’s “assault-style firearm” ban and confiscation program isn’t driven by public safety or gun ...
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A new bill introduced in Congress proposes to regulate “lethal air guns” as firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended (GCA). Yet the risk of fatalities and criminal misuse from air guns ...
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In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...
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