Sky cops allowed to fire guns

Australian, Page: 3. Friday, 27 June, 2008

Seven years after sky marshals first operated on Australian flights, they will finally be able to fire their guns without fear of prosecution.
The Rudd Government yesterday introduced a bill to give sky marshals permanent protection against prosecution for firing a gun on an aircraft.
Until now, sky marshals were operating under rules that permitted them to carry a gun.
“However, existing regulations do not allow an air security officer to lawfully discharge a firearm on an aircraft without the risk of prosecution,” Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday.
Authorities were getting around the problem using exemptions issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority every six months under a section of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.
However, Mr Albanese said there were worries that the exemptions were inconsistent with the purpose of safety legislation as it inherently implied it was safe to discharge a firearm on board an aircraft.
He said the bill would make the necessary amendments to the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and the Civil Aviation Act, which would allow the exemptions to be replaced with new regulations.
Australian sky marshals have never fired a gun on an aircraft.