The idea of an accesible handgun on the FO's flightbag (because I would not want the headaches involved...) seems to me to be a Catch-22 situation. If it can be grabbed in one second, then where is it kept at the next airport-in a box that fits into a flightbag? If the bag stays in the cockpit as wander around, looking for processed or even unprocessed food in a US airport (!), where does he put the verdammten gun before he leaves the plane? We wear no uniform coats from May until September, except for the high-profile widebody crewmembers (and those who, ahem, want to look like one...). If the guy in the cockpit goes to the lav enroute, can he/she quickly lock it up when the Lead FA calls and says "the restroom is open", as I await the secret signal for the pilot's return entry? Where will the d****d gun be put (in Ops) on a layover? If every Ops agent knows the secret combination, then won't some of these get stolen, or will the number be changed every week? If a gun is stolen from company property, are replacements paid for by TSA or the airline?
In a nutshell, the idea of a crewmember keeping one while on duty might be a royal pain in the ass, and make our flightbags luggage tempting targets for a thief. A convicted burglar claimed that most US burglars look first for a pistol, and then jewelry (in which room do women keep most jewelry?! Only one guess is allowed. Many women [or men?] are clueless about how to hang on to it; let's keep it where it can be quickly found and dropped into a pillowcase...if the electric cables to your house get pulled OUT, your old security system might not function...).
