After a shooting at LAX Airport Friday that left two Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers injured and one deceased, major discussion has begun regarding the option to arm TSA officers.
While many people may regard this as a way to increase safety, arming TSA officers could prove to do the complete opposite by providing more possible threats for violence. Placing weapons in more hands in a highly public place automatically increases the inevitability for a dangerous situation.
TSA officers are not trained to handle firearms and therefore could do as much damage as good if presented with them. An even more precise type of firearm skill is required for use in areas that generate a substantial amount of traffic. To provide this training to the thousands currently employed by the TSA would prove expensive and time consuming. Lack of proper training could result in misfire, possible dispossession of weaponry into unlawful hands or even an irate worker resorting to gun violence. Shootings like this can occur in any public venue including airports, yet that does not mean that we should place weapons in the power of every person working in a public place.
A safer and more viable option is to increase security by trained police officers. Police officers are selected and trained after careful screening and proving they are capable to possess and manage firearms for the sole purpose of public safety; therefore, they should be the only ones using them.
TSAThe best way to work toward preventing any more injuries from occurring is to increase the police personnel who are there for the sole purpose of ensuring security and protecting travelers and workers alike from harm.