Can I throw a curve ball?
I agree with Chopper Jog, as well. Let the military address this kind of threat, because they have a budget for it and are specifically trained to do so. Now, here is my curveball (not intended to hi-jack this thread)...
This reminds me of the debate of whether or not U.S. airline pilots should carry firearms in the cockpit. Look, I am a card carrying member of the NRA, but in this case... I say not "no," but "hell no!"
I think the pilot should focus on flying the aircraft... period. The focus should be to take your advisaries ability to do harm away from them. Specifically, the cockpit doors should be explosion proof and impenetrable... period. The Israeli's have much more experience in this arena than we have... and they have a phenominal success rate! Let Air Marshall's do their job, and protect the pilots with proper cockpit doors so pilots can do their job.
My main arguement is that pilots are inadequately trained to deal with the additional threat. They only receive ONE WEEK of training to carry a firearm... not enough for these conditions. When I was in the military, it took me YEARS of training before I was considered "proficient" in tactical situations... and I was constantly in training... constantly, constantly, constantly.
I believe that airline pilots have the ability to achieve a reasonable level of safety, and more importantly - discipline in panic situations. I don't believe they have the tools and training necessary to be at that level... period. During an attempted forced entry situation (storming the cockpit), the pilot is expected to: identify the threat, react to the attack, fly the aircraft, remove a firearm from its holster, charge the weapon, rotate the selector level from safe to fire, assume a defensive position, and place a well-aimed round into an advancing enemy... all without substantial damage to the aircraft and all in a matter of 1-3 seconds? IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. The "point and shoot" theory is OVER simplified and doesn't account for the level of discipline required... a level of discipline that "operators" train for extensively.
Okay, I guess I've hi-jacked this thread (no pun intended). The overall message (opinion) I'd like to convey is let police attend to civilian's and let military attend to attacks on the State. They should learn to work together, but this overlap seems a bit much.