The scenario you painted is clear. If the door opens the pilot shoots 'em. After he wiggles around, releases some of the straps, grabs the gun, manages to turn and aim it. So, we know hijackers won't do that.

One of the things you might do is look at the cockpit of a modern airliner with one of the pilots strapped in. They have to be ready for turbulence or something going wrong, and they cannot be bouncing around the cockpit. They are not lounging, but strapped in very securely with little room to move around. That's important to realize. They don't have a lot of room to move. Strapped in, in case the plane goes gunnysack.

There is a bit of traffic between the cockpit and cabin. The door isn't always closed and locked. Cabin attendants travel back and forth, the flight crew uses the cans, and so on. (I dated a United stewardess for quite a while. Occasionally she'd ask the Captain to "step on it, she had a date" Sounds funny to me.) That may have calmed down a bit, but I'm sure there is some.

A passenger could report smelling fuel, or malfunctioning aileron, or a loose wire hanging out the wing. Could say she saw a big puff of smoke coming out of the engine, or a liquid running over the wing, gone now.

One of the flight crew would investigate. Door opens.

And I'm sure the people who do these things would think of better ways to do it. I'm just saying that no one is going to handle it like the old "Jaws" takeoffs on Saturday Night Live. "Candygram". "Pizza." "Trick or Treat". "Unicef." "Special Delivery".

It's exactly what you said. They will think of a way that we haven't, and that's why it will work.

I'm sure the people who made the decision to leave guns off planes did so in the belief planes were safer without them than with them. I'm sure they made the decision based on what will keep planes safest.

And, I'm not convinced there won't be guns. The best of all possible scenarios is if I don't know for sure.

Arf