When a passenger found a federal air marshal's loaded service weapon in the bathroom during a trans-Atlantic flight last year, the blunder became headline news. It sparked public outrage, prompted an investigation and led to calls for reform.
But the misplaced gun debacle was hardly an isolated incident, according to documents recently obtained by CNN.
The Transportation Security Administration's Office of Inspection has documented more than 200 cases of air marshals allegedly misusing firearms or misbehaving with guns between roughly 2005 and 2017, according to records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In 19 of the cases, air marshals allegedly fired their weapons accidentally. For example, the documents state that in 2017 an agent based in Charlotte, North Carolina, "unintentionally discharged a personally owned firearm resulting in a gunshot wound to his right foot."
A 2013 case described an air marshal mistakenly firing his weapon inside a hotel room and damaging a television in an adjoining room.
More than 70 of the incidents relate to lost, misplaced or stolen weapons. At least three of those cases involved air marshals forgetting their firearms in airplane bathrooms. Two others involved weapons misplaced in airports.
At least 13 of the cases involved alcohol, including a 2012 case in which an armed air marshal allegedly flew on a plane while drunk and another in 2014 in which an agent was accused of being intoxicated during a firearms training session.
John Mueller, a political science professor at Ohio State University who has assessed the efficiencies of various forms of aviation security, argues that the costs of air marshals outweigh their benefits. He recommends training and arming more pilots to resist hijackers and adding secondary cockpit barriers.
Referring to air marshals, Mueller said, "They deliver about 5 cents or maybe 10 cents of benefit for every dollar that's spent on them. There are much less expensive security measures, which could replace them and save lots of money." (CNN, November 19, 2018)
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OK, in any group of people there are going to be mistakes and errors over time. When that group of people (i.e. Federal Air Marshals) all carry guns some of those mistakes and errors will involve guns.
Between 2005 and 2017 there were 200+ "gun mishaps" reported involving Federal Air Marshals - or around 17 incidents per year. If you work for an agency where people carry guns, how many reported "gun mishaps" does your agency have per year? Are 17 errors with firearms per year just the cost of doing business?
What do you think?
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