WASHINGTON (AP)

Senators from both parties said Thursday they Want the Transportation Security Administration to more quickly train commercial pilots who want to carry weapons in the cockpit.   

The lawmakers contend there is a backlog of many thousands of pilots who want to go through training, and say the TSA has been slow in processing applications.    ``It is a gaping hole in our national security,'' said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who was joined at a news conference by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-CA., and Conrad Burns, R-MT.    ``They'll get the message,'' Bunning said of TSA, ``or they'll lose their money.''    Boxer charged that the TSA is dragging its feet because it never wanted the program.    ``They tried to defeat it, and this is the way the bureaucrats act,'' said Boxer. ``TSA is turning its back on a law that is the law of the land.''    TSA spokesman Nico Melendez denied that the agency is moving slowly.    ``We're training pilots as quickly as we possibly can, and doing everything we can to ensure that every pilot that has the desire to carry a gun in the cockpit completes the training,'' he said.   

Congress created the program in late 2002 as another way to strengthen airline security. Pilots must volunteer, take a psychological test and complete a weeklong firearms training program run by the government. Pilots who volunteer have to pay for their lodging expenses during the training period and have to use vacation time.   

TSA won't say how many pilots have been trained so far, citing security concerns. The agency has said it can train up to 100 per week.    The Airline Pilots Security Alliance, a group created by pilots who lobby for guns in the cockpit, said last month that about 1,500 pilots had been trained and about half the nation's 115,000 commercial pilots have expressed an interest in the program.    Bunning and Boxer introduced legislation meant to speed up the process. It calls for training all pilots within 90 days after they apply for the program. The bill also seeks to immediately arm pilots who have a military or law enforcement background. They would then undergo training within the next six months.    Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was introducing similar legislation in the House.   

About 60 percent of commercial pilots have military backgrounds, said Capt. Paul Onorato, vice president of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, a trade group representing pilots at the major airlines.    Onorato estimates it now takes 120 days or more for a pilot to finish training and many have been denied entry into the program.    

On the Net:   
Transportation Security Administration: http://www.tsa.gov   
Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations:http://www.capapilots.org
Airline Pilots Security Alliance: http://www.secure-skies.org    AP-ES-04-01-04 1742EST 

Copyright (c) 2004 The Associated Press
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 04/01/2004 17:43:09