On another board, one of the posters suggested a formal program.

1) Law enforcement officials, military officers, and military enlisted who are handgun-qualified may carry weapons on board.

2) Persons not in one of those categories may (a) apply for and get a Concealed Carry license in their State of residence, then attend (and pay for) a course in safe use of weapons on airplanes.

3) The airlines would provide seat discounts for those who fly armed. The guy I'm paraphrasing suggested one free first-class seat (first come, first served) and either a few free coach seats or a steep discount.

4) Those qualified to fly armed would receive a credential. On passing the security inspection, presentation of the credential would entitle them to bypass the metal detector (if the guy can have a gun, are we really gonna worry about bombs in his laptop?)

5) So-called "glaser" rounds, that fragment when they hit a hard surface, would be required. That would be part of the course the passenger had to pass.

Hey, I'd pay up to $1000 for the course, just so I didn't have to stand in line at "security".