Trains are far from an efficient means of travel. The one time I looked into it for a trip, it would take longer than a very long bus ride, but cost more than a flight. The only thing it had going for it was the ambience of being on a train, and honestly, that's not enough for me. Plus, there's the whole thing about not being allowed to take a gun on there, even though trains have been the subject of things like terrorist attacks in other countries.
A plan is in place to change that, thankfully, though who knows how long that will last in the current political environment.
And the Amtrak workers' union is apparently not a big fan of it.
The Transport Workers Union, which represents 360 onboard service workers at the national passenger rail operator Amtrak, has lambasted the planned implementation of a new policy that would permit passengers to bring their guns on its US intercity trains.
The forthcoming protocols will allow people to carry on firearms in personal lock boxes.
“You can’t walk on to a plane with a gun, it has to be checked with your luggage and stowed away,” said John Feltz, International Rail Division director of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), in a statement. “So why allow guns in passenger cars on trains where there are also passengers in confined spaces? This is sheer lunacy.”
Now, I'm not supportive of disarming airplane passengers, either, but there's one huge difference between a train and an aircraft. You can't redirect a train to plow into a skyscraper and bring the whole thing down.
Just putting that out there.
The union noted the new policy was now scheduled to begin in January 2027. Amtrak had previously noted it was considering the policy, amid pressure from the Trump administration to ease restrictions on transporting weapons, but had not announced a timeline.
According to the union, gun owners will be able to bring their weapons in cases to an Amtrak station agent, who would add an Amtrak-owned combination lock. Passengers take their weapons onboard and a station agent at the arrival stations would remove the Amtrak lock.
“A case or lock could be defective, or an enraged rider could use brute force to access a weapon. Either scenario will endanger the lives of riders and our members working on trains,” Feltz added.
That's right. Someone might actually access the gun.
Keep in mind that there apparently aren't metal detectors like with TSA, so someone who is inclined to do something like that can just bring the gun in and not worry about the rules. They wouldn't need to brute force open it because they'd just not tell anyone they're armed in the first place.
In other words, the status quo is an honor system, and this is just a variation on the honor system, and the union calls this lunacy?
Seriously?
I'm sorry, but Amtrak only stays afloat because it's taxpayer funded, and that means it's fundamentally different from a privately-owned airline. That also matters because it means that this is the government disarming the American people.
If the workers don't like it, they're free to seek other employment.
There are a lot of people who would love to jump on a job like that who wouldn't care.