Tripower455,
Most hijackers don't want to die, It's very very rare for a hijacker to die in the cause of whatever they are campaining for,
However, Most do take precautions to protect themselves and the pin-out grenade is a favoured one.
At the end of the day a pilot is paid to:
Aviate
Navigate
Commuicate
I don't see 'shoot' anywhere in that list.
I don't see how a firearm can help a pilot keep control, The best way to retain control of the plane is to STAY ON THE FLIGHTDECK not running around pretending to be Steven Segal shooting people.
There are hundreds of thousands of potential terrorist scenarios, It's not just a matter of the good guy vs the bad guy, A pilot cannot be expected to be able to deal with all of those scenarios, When an hostage situation happens on the ground there is a veritable army invovled in solving it with as little loss of life (both terrorists and civilians) as possible.
If pilots start going armed then there will be more death and destruction in the skies than we have now.
Gary.