Do planes have cockpits or gun turrets?

I am not anti-gun, but when the Transportation Security Administration initiated a program in 2003 that permitted pilots to carry guns, I felt this was a bad idea. I think a pilot's job is to fly the plane, not participate in firefights on it. Moreover, given the security at airports, I was uncertain what benefit gun-toting pilots offered compared to the risk.

The first accident occurred over the weekend. A pilot's gun accidentally discharged in the cockpit on a US Airways flight from Denver to Charlotte. There were 124 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants on board the flight at the time. No one was injured.

So thus far, the number of passengers saved by armed pilots has been zero, but the number of passengers whose lives were threatened has been 124. Can't we leave the weapons to the air marshals who get extensive and ongoing training in handling armed confrontations rather than to pilots who get one week of training?

As a passenger, I actually don't feel safer with armed pilots. What do you think?