When you travel by air for work or pleasure, do you take your fire arm with you? What kind of hoops do you jump through to do so?
I’ve never done this, but I have looked into it. In Massachusetts, TSA told me that it’s not a problem, lock your guns up in a solid case, lock your ammo up in a separate case, and check your luggage, DO NOT CARRY ON. But then you have to be legal in the state that your going to. I have wanted to shoot USPSA area matches, a lot of the guys have their guns shipped to their hotel room if they’re driving, I’ve not heard any horror stories as of yet.
Interesting, do they mark that they’re shipping firearms @Steve-G? There are so many regulations about shipping a firearm that I would almost be more worried about that.
The flying horror stories I’ve heard of are when the flight is rerouted and the passenger ends up at an airport where they cannot have their firearm (NJ and NY are the states I’ve heard it about).
Here’s an article about it: No Flying with Guns | National Review
I don’t know, I’ve never done it. I did make a mistake though on shipping it for a match, they can’t ship it to your hotel room, they ship it to a local FFL and you can pick it up there before the match.
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I was told firearms go in a different part of the plane and you pick them up in a different place than luggage they say the guns always make it but your cloths may not
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I’ve been heavily involved with this process for many years with my job and I’ve done it personally. First off, if you have questions, or not, you need to go too two different places. The TSA website and then the specific airline website. You have to go to them both because the airline can set their own, more restrictive rules. I’d recommend printing ALL the relevant information if there is not a military instalation within 60 miles of the airport you’re using. Put the papers under the foam in the box because you could very well be educating the person behind the counter. In general it’s goes as such. Unloaded in a locked hard sided case. Ammo can go in with it as long as it’s in the manufacturer packaging. It’s best to use a TSA approved lock because they’ll have a key. They WILL open the container and put an inspection slip in. They will put a sticker on the outside identifying it as a firearm. After inspection the case can go into another piece of luggage. I’ve never heard of a separate claim area at your destination but who knows, it could happen.
I’ve flown with my firearm on many occasions. As has been said before, firearm unloaded with the action locked open and ammo in manufacturers box all locked up in a secure lockbox that is secured TO the inside of my luggage. My suitcase is then locked with a TSA approved lock. They can unlock my suitcase but have to obtain a key from me to open the firearm box.
At the ticket counter, tell the ticket agent that you need to declare a FIREARM (DON’T say “I’ve got a gun…” anything said after that may not be heard!)
At some airports, they x-ray the secure lockbox and are happy. At others, they ask me for the key. I wait at the ticket counter until they tell me that its been cleared by TSA. In Orlando, the ticket agent called a skycap and we (the skycap, my luggage and I) were taken to TSA where they asked for my key an inspected the firearm. Once its been approved, I go through security.
They do put an Inspection Notice inside of the luggage but typically nothing on the outside indicates a firearm on the inside. My luggage does seem to get “special handling” and I pick it up at that airlines office in baggage handling (its NOT put on the conveyor belt). Keep your luggage claim # handy so (A) you can claim it (B) they can figure out which one is yours and © PROVE that its yours.
At one point, Delta decided to use these HUGE THICK zip strips to “secure the bag closed” (really? My bag is a hard shell bottom on wheels with a zipper top - they put these straps around it in an X shape). Once I got my bag from the office, I unlocked it, unzipped it, opened up the secure lockbox and took out my knife that was also secured with my firearm, and I used it to cut off the zip strips IN THE OFFICE so I wasn’t walking through the airport with these zip strips on it (didnt want THAT marking my bag as “Firearm enclosed - please take me.”).
Flying with a firearm DOES make sure that they don’t loose my bag - it gets “special handling”. Its worth the couple of extra minutes to get it checked in AND picked up. Just plan accordingly for the extra time. I flew once without it and never felt so vulnerable for so long in a strange city - was SO glad to get home.
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Glad to have you here, @Kevin46!
Great points! As you also stated, expect it to take longer than normal for check-in and pick up of luggage.