Traveling with a handgun

[Jay33]

I am flying from Indiana to South Dakota - via ORD (Chicago)

I know I have to pack my handgun in a locked box in my checked baggage with ammo seperate. Could there be any issues with having it while on the ground in Chicago during my layover?

It seems like i hear of a problem with a lady in New York and they arrested her

[Johnnyq60]

Welcome to the family and god bless you.

[PDA3]

Welcome, @Jay33!

I was supposed to fly with a layover in ORD before this pandemic. The trip was canceled so I did not get to put the information I found to the test. But, I found and was told that, everything will be fine as long as TSA regulations were met when checking in the firearms & ammo and you do not retrieve your checked luggage in ORD. I also booked a flight that had no scheduled plane change in ORD. Meaning they would not have to unload and reload my checked luggage.

[Isaac97]

Hi @Jay33!
I haven’t flown through ORD, so I can’t give anything definitive, but on a recent flight, I had an overnight layover in Salt Lake City and didn’t want to have to deal with rechecking my handgun and other luggage. So, I spoke with a manager of the airline I was flying at my departure airport and asked if all of my luggage could be kept by the airline overnight. They marked the bags with that info, and all of my luggage made it safely to my destination.
All of that to say, you could probably do the same thing… And, even if it’s not an overnight layover, you could ask them to mark it as such in case an overnight layover becomes necessary.

[Dawn]

@Jay33

It seems like i hear of a problem with a lady in New York and they arrested her

More than one! Double-check the airport and the airline’s policy on firearms and print the policies out to take with you to the airport.

If you get detoured or rerouted to a place where you cannot have your firearm, @Isaac97 had an interesting way of dealing with it.

[Jerzees]

Check the latest thread, where we have discussed ORD:

Ohare airport and a firearm

so first time flying with a firearm… im from Wisconsin heading to Alaska for a few weeks… so naturally wanted to take my edc… ive been super nervous about it… well ill tell ya… proper case and read the rules… declared I had firearm. Signed that it was unloaded and properly cased… followed tsa to screening station which was right there… scanned it gave me the thumbs up… less then 2 minutes. So if you are traveling through ohare have no worries… easy peasy

Even Chicago doesn’t like firearms… we are not NYC

[Derek]

Is it an overnight layover or just for a short time. If short time you won’t be claiming your luggage if over night have airlines hold bag at airport, I am not a lawyer or didn’t stay I. A Holiday Inn Expresss last night just do your research.

[Jay33]

Thank you everyone for your feedback, it confirms what I have researched - just wanted to be absolutely sure.

[Cobra]

@Jay33. Welcome to the family,train hard and be safe, from Michigan.