Senate votes to allow guns on Amtrak

September 17, 2009|Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted yesterday to permit passengers on the Amtrak passenger railroad to transport handguns in their checked baggage.

The proposal, approved by a 68-to-30 vote, seeks to give Amtrak riders rights comparable with those enjoyed by air passengers, who can transport firearms provided that they declare that they are doing so and that the arms are unloaded and in a securely locked container.

“Americans should not have their Second Amendment rights restricted for any reason, particularly if they choose to travel on America’s federally subsidized rail line,’’ said Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, who made the proposal.

Wicker’s amendment would deny the railroad its $1.6 billion taxpayer subsidy unless it changes the gun policy. Current Amtrak policy, put in place after the bombings of passenger trains in Madrid five years ago, prohibits weapons, including firearms, from being carried on its trains.

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Amtrak permitted firearms to be carried on its trains so long as they were separately secured in locked baggage or carrying cases. But it added restrictions on carrying weapons after the attacks and imposed a total ban on all weapons after the Madrid bombings.