I used to be Ultra-Anti-Gun but now Im somewhat Anti-Gun

[Expatriate]

Guns on planes aren't as dangerous as most think

A few bullet holes would likely have little or no effect on cabin pressurization; the pressure control system would detect the increase in outflow and either decrease the amount of air leaving through the outflow valve, or the compressors would increase output. You would have to have a LOT of big bullet holes before the engines' compressors couldn't keep up. At that point the pilot could bring the aircraft to a lower altitude to compensate, or the passengers and crew could don oxygen masks. There's not going to be explosive decompression unless an entire door comes off.
http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/cit-larson.html?c=y&page=1

If you’ve been following news reports and have heard that more armed air marshals are flying these days and that a stray bullet would cause decompression, you can stop worrying. The airplane already has a huge hole in it called the outflow valve. And air marshals are reputed to be excellent marksmen.

Also, it seems anyone carrying a gun for law enforcement purposes on an aircraft would use Glaser Safety Slugs or at least Hydra-Shok ammo that would be unlikely to fully puncture the cabin walls, ricochet or pass all the way through a bad guy.

As to the concern that a bullet could blow out a window and cause people to get sucked out, well Mythbusters (if you trust them) tested this and couldn't blow out the window under pressure using bullets. They had to use a bomb to get that effect.
http://www.tv.com/MythBusters/Explo...+Giggin',+Rear+Axle/episode/296711/recap.html

Here's an interesting article by Massad Ayoob on the subject of armed pilots:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_157_26/ai_84428742/?tag=content;col1

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Making them illegal would just take them out of the law abiding people's hands. Black market wants them illegal that's for sure.

One of the best points made!

The Gun protecting liberty myth is a bit overblown imo, owning guns as not prevented the Media from lying about Iraq or serving as propaganda for the Gov, AIPAC or Big Busniess, not prevented the Patriot Act, the dismantlement of the bill of rights, not Prevented secret NSA wiretap, not preventing your name for being on a No-Fly zone for secret reasons without any say about it, not preventing detention without representation if "they" "say" your an enemy combattant without a shread of evidence. The US is turning into a Police State, that you own a gun or not isnt making any difference.

Its not preventing the looting either, in the old days vikings or pirates would raid and plunder the coast take everything and sail off, having a sword or a weapon could allow the population some chance at protecting itself, but now its innefectual to prevent modern plundering; Paulson hands trillions of your money to Banksters that transfer it to offshore accounts, Big Business are dismantling whole factories sailing off to China and India and transfering pension funds into war profiteering coffers like Halliburton that relocates its headquaters to Dubai; so even if you pack a gun they can strip you of your rights, strip the US of much of its wealth, and leave a pile of Debt behind.

Completely false argument. There is no connection between gun rights and the evils of government listed above. None of our other rights did anything to prevent those abuses. Shall we just give them up too? Free speech didn't stop it. Freedom of religion didn't stop it. Property rights didn't stop it. The House of Representatives didn't stop it.