Amtrak Weighs Nationwide Lockbox Rollout to Allow Firearms on 1,500 Daily Train Routes

Amtrak gun policy is under review. The railroad is considering a proposal that would let passengers store firearms in train lockboxes. Critics say the change would loosen rail security. They argue security should instead be strengthened. The concern follows the shooting linked to last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Two people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press that Amtrak has studied the change since at least the beginning of the year. Also, they said the review followed pressure from Trump administration officials. Those officials wanted easier weapon transport by train, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to discuss the matter publicly.

Still, Amtrak has not dropped the idea. That remained true after Saturday’s arrest. Authorities say the man rode Amtrak from California to Washington, D.C., with firearms. Authorities say he intended to kill President Donald Trump and other administration officials at the dinner.

Authorities said Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody after trying to speed past security barriers near the hotel ballroom where the event was being held. Secret Service agents exchanged fire with him. One Secret Service officer was wearing a bullet-resistant vest. The officer was struck in the vest and survived.

Authorities said Allen had a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol. They said he had brought them by rail from his home in Torrance, California. At the same time, Amtrak would not say whether he followed the existing firearms rules. Those rules require passengers to declare weapons. They also allow the company to lock them up with checked bags. Allen’s lawyer has said he has no criminal record and is presumed innocent.

How the Amtrak gun policy proposal would change rules?

Under the proposed policy change, Amtrak could begin testing the system soon. Lockboxes would be added to trains. The plan would allow passengers nationwide to bring firearms aboard. At present, guns are permitted only on trains with locked baggage cars. That is according to the people who spoke to the AP.

Meanwhile, the shift would make firearm transport available on more than 1,500 trains daily. That would include routes in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, where about 750,000 people travel daily. Still, current rules limit firearm transport to a couple dozen mostly long-distance trains. Those trains are equipped with locked baggage cars.

John Feinblatt leads the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. He said the change would reduce safety.

“Just days after a man took an Amtrak train to Washington with a shotgun and pistol and tried to assassinate the president and other federal officials, the Trump Administration is trying to open the floodgates for firearms on every Amtrak route, while also moving to hollow out the agency responsible for enforcing gun laws and preventing gun trafficking,” he said. “This will only make Americans less safe and Congress must step in before the next tragedy.”

Amtrak and the Transportation Department did not immediately answer questions about the firearms proposal.

Current firearms on trains rules

Under current Amtrak rules, passengers must declare firearms before bringing them on board. The weapons must be unloaded and placed in a hard case. They must also meet size and weight limits. Firearms are allowed only as checked baggage. That is broadly similar to commercial flight policies.

The proposed system would still require weapons to be secured while on trains. The two people familiar with the plan said only the conductor would hold the key. The practical difference would be broader availability. Lockboxes would be installed on every train. The plan would not depend only on locked baggage cars where they exist.

It remains unclear how Amtrak would verify whether a passenger is legally allowed to carry a firearm. It is also unclear whether the laws at the passenger’s destination would permit it. For example, New York City restricts who may carry guns and may require a permit. Other jurisdictions have less restrictive gun laws.

Passenger security and screening questions

Even with Amtrak’s existing rules, some passengers may already be armed. Some may also have previously carried guns on trains. Unlike at airports, passengers and bags are not screened before boarding trains. In addition, Amtrak does not check passenger names against a criminal database. Such checks could flag possible threats. That applies at busy terminals such as Washington’s Union Station. It also applies at small, unstaffed stations. Trains stop there in the middle of the night to pick up passengers.

At those unstaffed stations, passengers often board before the conductor has checked tickets. The conductor may also not have made contact with them yet. Under the proposed lockbox system, several minutes could pass before a weapon is secured.

Sheldon Jacobson is a security expert. His work helped shape the TSA PreCheck system used in aviation. He said rail operators should increase advance screening. He said they should collect more information when tickets are sold. He also said they should check passenger backgrounds. At the same time, he said a rule against guns on trains cannot fully work. There is no practical way to enforce it.

“The initial condition is that there’s almost 400 million guns in this country,” he said. “Then work from there as opposed to trying to create a utopian environment where there’s not guns and we’re going to keep it that way.”

Jacobson said passenger rail carries less risk than aviation. He said building a TSA-style screening system at every station would not justify the cost. Still, he said the calculation could change. That could happen if a major tragedy occurred on a passenger train.

“You have to weigh the risks and rewards. And you have to say, where are we going to put our money to get the greatest risk reduction for the greatest benefit with the least inconvenience to people?” he said.

Rail worker protections remain part of the debate

Rail unions have spent nearly 10 years seeking stronger safeguards for passenger rail employees. Their push followed incidents including the 2017 shooting of a conductor by an angry passenger. The shooting happened at a station in Naperville, Illinois.

Two measures in Congress would extend protections to rail workers similar to those already provided to airline crews. The bills would make it a federal crime to interfere with or assault a rail employee. The protection would apply while that person is performing job duties. Also, unions have had some success in getting state-level protections passed.

After 9/11, Amtrak and many other ground transportation providers banned weapons. The bans covered trains and buses. They did not add systems to screen every passenger or detect firearms. In 2010, Congress approved a law. It required Amtrak and other companies to permit firearms if they are checked.

Source: apnews.com

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