Glynco, Ga. ? There is a minuscule chance, beginning today, that a pilot on a commercial flight may be carrying a gun.

Some air travelers say even those odds are cause for worry. Others say they will feel safer if there’s an armed pilot on board.

Saturday was graduation day for the first 44 pilots in a course at a federal law enforcement training center. Additional pilots will complete their training in the weeks to come — meaning a gradual increase in the number of gun-toting pilots in airliner cockpits.

The pilots went through a week of classes, tests, drills and target practice required before they could be sworn in as federal flight deck officers. The designation is required for a pilot to carry a pistol.

Cafe owner Peter Fragale of Jacksonville, Fla., thinks arming pilots is a good idea.

“They make me feel better,” he said as he waited at Jacksonville International Airport for a flight to Atlanta.

Art teacher Mary Ellen Binz, returning to Lake Mills, Wis., said putting guns in the hands of pilots made her nervous.

“It’ll get in the hands of the wrong person,” she said. “I wonder how pilots feel about it?”

Polls last year showed more than 70 percent of pilots favored the right to be armed. After the hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, pilot unions lobbied for permission to carry guns in the cockpit. Opposing the idea were the White House and the airlines.

“I need to defend myself and my aircraft,” a female pilot said Thursday during a break from practicing how to disarm a terrorist in close quarters. Participants in the course were not allowed to give their names or airlines.

Graduates are required to tell their employers that they have been certified to carry a gun 24 hours after they finish training. They do not have to take a weapon with them every time they fly, but they do have to inform airlines and the flight crew when they do.