On January 6, 2011 the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) hosted a conference on the Transportation Security Administration's Advanced Imaging Technology scanners and their abusive pat-down searches. Their website billed it as:

This one-day public conference will be devoted to an assessment of the TSA airport security procedures and recommendations for reform. Experts in law, aviation security, and health safety, advocates for flyers rights, privacy protection, and religious freedom, as well as lawmakers and policy advisors will participate in the event. The event will also include a rich media display, with images from airport protests, YouTube videos, and campaign materials.

Many great panelists participated including Jim Babb of We Won't Fly.com.

Among the other speakers were renown analyst Edward Luttwak who pointed out that the TSA is getting it all wrong by searching every passenger attempting to board a plane. They are ignoring the recommendations of the International Air Transport Association as outlined in Vision for Intelligent Aviation Security.

At the end of the conference I asked the panel that included Jim Harper of the Cato Institute and New York city councilman David Greenfield about allowing selected passengers to carry guns on planes as a way to enhance security. It came as no surprise that Councilman Greenfield opposed the idea. What was surprising was Jim Harper objecting to it! An odd position for a representative of an allegedly libertarian think tank to take.

On a humorous note, when I asked the above question I happened to be standing next to Ralph Nader who thought it was quite funny. He later characterized it as "impertinent".  Obviously there are many who just don’t get what guns and armed citizens are really about. To the best of my knowledge there are no studies that show that disarmed passengers are safer than armed ones. Matter of fact, we do know that most, if not all, successful terrorist incidents have had unarmed passengers as their victims.