The same feature of civilization that keeps all forms of antisocial violence in check: the criminal justice system. What ‘s preventing your subway car on the way to penn station from being bombed? Nothing of any substance. It is not possible for government to physically prevent all the terrible ways to murder. And yet, they do a far better job of deterring them than they do of controlling careless carnage on the highways. As transportation advocates we should be unequivocally proud of the very low, overall, actual risk factors of rail.

Amtrak doesn’t charge fees like the airlines for bags, but they have similar baggage rules (at least at NY Penn). Weight, size, and number limits are enforced just as rigorously as any airline (I had the fun of repacking my bags on the station floor to shift 5 lbs). My fault for not weighing my bags, but the point is that Amtrak is checking those things now.

As for the other points, like Amtrak needing to control access to trains in stations, and make sure their employees aren’t criminals — I certainly hope they are doing so now. Leaving baggage unsecured is unacceptable whether or not firearms are in the baggage cars. If stations and rolling stock aren’t properly secured now, what’s preventing someone from placing a bomb in a baggage car?

Except you don’t suddenly have to do those things. That position, Amtrak’s position, makes no sense. It is their current, total ban on firearms that begs for ‘screening’—universal passenger search without cause—in order to have meaning. Allowing passengers to declare locked and unloaded firearms reduces the rationale for searching. This was their policy for decades, and it was fine. I’m sorry that the Senate is playing political games with Amtrak, but I’m more sorry that Amtrak (and Bloomberg) have taken the bait and are now retaliating with the most hackneyed, illogical fear mongering I’ve seen in a while.

Here’s how I see it: one of the reasons I like taking the train, even though it takes longer and costs the same, is that it’s a very relaxed mode of transportation. You don’t have to go through any security rituals. You’re free to move about the train during the journey. You can bring as much stuff as you want on board, and I’m pretty sure that on trains with checked luggage, there are few if any limitations in terms of quantity.

When a system like that has to accommodate people’s constitutional “right” to check firearms in their luggage, suddenly you have to introduce security screenings (at least of checked baggage) at the stations. You have to control who can check how many bags. You have to control what goes on at the stations and in the cars much more tightly, and probably have a much tighter leash on personnel, too. Suddenly a relaxing mode of transport becomes every bit as stressful as the airlines. Which reduces the demand.

And thus, wheee, no more passenger rail service in America!

It’s also perfectly reasonable for Amtrak to say they don’t want the hassle, since their normal procedures do not involve securing the luggage, and since their trains are not heavily staffed.

What’s not reasonable is for Congress to generate so much damned hot air about this non-issue.

I’m pro-gun-control, but the more I think about it, the more I see this as a red herring. Bloomberg gives the image of some Colin Ferguson wannabe pulling “multiple assault weapons” out of his bag on the 5:15 out of Trenton, but we’re talking checked baggage here. That means that it’s locked up in the baggage car, and the owners won’t be able to open it until they get to their final destination.

So if the law passes, there will still be something keeping someone from carrying mutiple assault weapons onto a train: the law against carrying weapons on Amtrak. Why isn’t that enough? Why does everyone in that press conference in that Epoch Times article act like people are going to be boarding trains with guns on their hips?

Meanwhile, how many people are there who drive or fly instead of taking the train, because they want to take their guns someplace? Don’t we want them on the train instead of polluting the air and running people down on the highways? Hey, I’d love to see them get rid of their guns, but banning guns in checked baggage hasn’t done much in that area over the past forty years, right?

There are only two ways I can think of that this would make things easier for terrorists. First, someone could retrieve their checked bag at Penn Station and start shooting up the place, but you’d think they would have procedures in place to make sure they have the proper NYC permits at the bag check. What do they do at La Guardia, anyway?

Second, someone could put a timed or remote-control detonator in with their checked box of ammo. If they timed it right they could blow up a baggage cart on a platform full of people. That’s about the worst thing I could think of.