Originally Posted by
cstone
Alot.
The reasoning for weapons retention for uniformed police officers is based on the regular carry of an exposed weapon, which is visible and accessible to anyone behind, to the side, or otherwise in close proximity. When your job has you rolling around on the ground while trying to subdue a subject, or working crowd control at an Occupy style rally, knowing where your weapons are and keeping them away from others is pretty important.
While, in training, we work on regaining weapons if you happen to lose one, the emphasis is obviously on not losing them in the first place.
Ground fighting is also an important part of training in LE. Would anyone like to consider the difficulties of ground fighting in the aisle or between seats on a full airplane? Again, the emphasis is on not going to the deck, and if you go, make sure you are on top. There are a lot of hard, sharp items down there. You can use them if you are in a position of dominance. They can be used against you if you are not.
There are many difficult environments to work in, and anyone who thinks that a gun will get you out of more trouble than it can get you into is just fooling themselves. For a citizen who carries concealed, use of a firearm should really be considered a weapon of last resort. Something along the lines of "If I don't pull this trigger, someone will die or be seriously injured. I have no other choice." If you can't hit your target, you have no business pulling the trigger. That is just as true on the street as it is at 30,000 feet. It is also true for LE as well as anyone else. At least in LE, the deep pockets of liability will probably be the taxpayers. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates would suffer significant financial setbacks for that type of liability. I'm pretty sure that anyone on this board would be financially ruined if they missed in that situation. Not to mention the other legal and psychological difficulties.
Here is a domestic airliner question for those in the profession. If a significant event happens while over the continental United States, what is the longest time likely between advising ATC of the emergency and wheels down? I ask this question in anticipation of the consideration of "backup assistance" not being available at cruise altitude.