The Senate voted 68-30 Sept. 16 to approve a proposal that will allow Amtrak passengers to carry firearms in their checked luggage.
The proposal must still pass through the House of Representatives before it becomes law.
If passed, the bill will present many difficulties for Amtrak and may result in the end of the company’s services, Thomas C. Carper, Amtrak chairman of the board, said in a letter to members of the Senate. Amtrak would have six months to comply with the requirements or lose its $1.6 billion federal subsidy. Amtrak depends on this funding to keep its trains running.
Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, passengers riding Amtrak were able to carry unloaded, locked firearms. After the attacks, Amtrak banned the carrying of firearms completely.
Steve Kulm, director of Media Relations at Amtrak, said the company should be able to access its full appropriation.
“If it doesn’t work out with the amendment, we will lose our federal funding, which we need to support our national train,” he said.
If the proposal is passed, Amtrak will need to prepare for the safe carrying of firearms in checked baggage by drafting new rules and regulations, educating employees and training engine crews and station staff on procedures for checking and transporting firearms. It will also need to find a way to properly store firearms on the trains, develop more internal security and analyze the condition of old baggage cars.
Amtrak would have to analyze their checked baggage stations, possibly add locks and alarms to the baggage cars and determine costs, funding and labor, Carper said in his letter to the Senate.
“Amtrak believes this provision is neither fair nor practical,” Amtrak said in a statement to The Eagle. “Our entire annual appropriation to support a national passenger rail system should not be contingent on a compliance deadline Amtrak has stated we cannot meet.”
More than 27 million passengers travel on Amtrak trains across the country, Carper said in his letter to the Senate.
This number includes many AU students.
Neil Brazer, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said the impact of the amendment did not sound very severe upon first thought.
“It’s great that people can exercise their rights and voice their opinions, but this seems unnecessary,” Brazer said. “We’re not at a point, economically, politically, or in any sense, to be creating problems with transportation.”
Union Station in D.C. does not have baggage check services, so passengers traveling from that station will not be affected if the proposal becomes law.
Some members of AU College Republicans voiced their support for the new proposal in compliance with the constitutional right to bear arms.
Josh Jacobs, a sophomore in the School of International Service and member of College Republicans, said that because Amtrak is not a private entity, they should not have the right to restrict Americans from traveling with their firearms.
“As a person who owns many firearms, the Senate amendment strikes me as a victory for gun owners across the country,” he said. “This has a lot of utility to me as someone who rides Amtrak very often.”
Sam Hagedorn, treasurer for the AU College Democrats, said that while the College Democrats have no specific stance on the issue, they do not think the legislation will become law.
“This is a posturing vote by the NRA ... Going forward to see that will actually equal any long-term legislation. This was more about holding lawmakers feet to the fire.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., proposed the gun amendment on the grounds of fighting Second Amendment restrictions, according to a statement from Wicker’s office.
Wicker and supporters of the amendment argue that train passengers should enjoy the same rights as airline passengers, according to the statement.
In his letter to members of the U.S. Senate, Carper wrote, “Unlike the airline industry, Amtrak has no system in place for a uniform system of screening for weapons or exact regulations regarding firearms.”
There is no set date for the House to consider the proposal.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
