Possible to check a handgun with TSA at the airport

[BonnieB]

Folks,

Is there a way to check a handgun with TSA at a California airport and pick it up when I return?

I do NOT want to take the gun with me on the trip. I just want it immediately available when I come back, so I can be safe in the airport parking lot getting to my car.

I already considered and eliminated these items:

No one is picking me up at the airport.
I won't leave the gun in a parked car
I won't take it with me, even in checked baggage.
I might go to a state that doesn't allow me to carry.

If you are a LEO or a TSA agent or have actually done this, please respond. If you're taking a guess at it, please don't bother.

[leman77]

TSA steals things all the time...not sure I would want to check anything with them..just sayin.

[gunRfun]

At OAK they do not.

[Markinsac]

TSA doesn't store things - either it goes with you, or they dispose of it via the authorized methods.

[twotacocombo]

Why don't you call the TSA and get the answer from the horse's mouth? One contact with them should be more than enough to convince you that leaving anything valuable in their care, let alone a firearm, is a terribly misguided idea. Their crushing stupidity scares me more than the thought of my flight going down.

[keenkeen]

Not a LEO or TSA agent and I have never tried to do it.

But, no you can't. And that is not a guess.

[TurboS600]

No. TSA will not store ANYTHING for you. EVERYTHING they take possession of goes into their confiscation bins and is destroyed/sold/or taken home by the low-life, thieving, fry cook converts who work for and run the TSA.

Your weapon would actually be SAFER in a portable safe in your vehicle in airport parking. Even IF you could leave it with TSA it would certainly end up in some TSA agent's home safe before you could retrieve it.

I take my pistol everywhere I go, especially when leaving town. Not too sure why you would not take it with you in the checked bag. Whether or not you can CCW where you are traveling you should at least have it in your room.

But the bottom line and answer to the OP is NO. TSA will not safeguard your belongings while you travel and return them to you upon your return to home base.

[BonnieB]

OK, thanks, guys. I am actually so old that I can remember when airports and train stations had lockers you could rent for a quarter, and store things for weeks.

I am not checking luggage, not checking the gun, not leaving it in the car, so I guess it stays home. Bummer.

[Norsemen308]

**welp I was late to the party**

I fly with guns about 6 times a year. TSA will not store anything for you and if you leave something with them... YOU WILL NOT GET IT BACK (I tried to get an Emerson ETAk back at LAX and it proved to be impossible, they confiscate...they do not store)

You may have your reasons for "not wanting to take it on the trip". However, YOU SHOULD. It is stupid easy and transported in a locked case it is legal pretty much anywhere within the country (excluding d.c from what I have been told). The joy about a handgun is you can lock it in a case, stick it in your checked luggage and no one is the wiser...You still must declare it but tsa sticks it back in ur main check luggage. The only time I have not really liked the idea of flying with a gun is if I have my 3gun set or hunting rifles... TSA makes you go to a special terminal for pick up and everyone know nows you have something expensive....it could be a Tuba.......it could also be a LWRC.....

If you are still against flying with it you can always get a gunvault, stick it in your car and leave the gun in your vehicle while in long term parking...

of all those options... I would still take it with me, the reason... its WITH ME, trust no one, TSA cant even remember D.C is in the UNION, how the hell are we gonna trust them with a gun? I also would have a terrible trip knowing my gun was in my car being finger picked by thieves... So.... leave it in your safe at home.... or pack it in the bag, either way is very simple.

[Decoligny]

Originally Posted by BonnieB

OK, thanks, guys. I am actually so old that I can remember when airports and train stations had lockers you could rent for a quarter, and store things for weeks.

I am not checking luggage, not checking the gun, not leaving it in the car, so I guess it stays home. Bummer.

You mean those nice private locking boxes that terrorists could drop a dufflebag full of C-4 with a timer into for $0.25, leave, and then watch the explosions from the comfort of their hotel room overlooking the Airport?

Can't tell you how many spy movies, or mafia movies have these lockers used for weapons caches, money drops, drug delivery points, etc., even had a movie with an entire civilization occupying a locker.

[POLICESTATE]

Originally Posted by gunRfun

At OAK they do not.

Do not what? Store things or steal things?

I wouldn't trust the TSA to keep anything for me.

[SunsetIE]

Originally Posted by Decoligny

Can't tell you how many spy movies, or mafia movies have these lockers used for weapons caches, money drops, drug delivery points, etc., even had a movie with an entire civilization occupying a locker.

That was an entire galaxy, not just earth


I cant imagine trying to fly with a firearm, I had TSA go haywire on me in HNL when part of my dive gear was on top of my laptop going thru the xray machine. I thought I was about to get cavity searched!


And I can confirm TSA keeps the **** they confiscate, I know a former employee and he has what amounts to a 5 gallon bucket, full of confiscated zippos, bics, etc.

[Decoligny]

Originally Posted by SunsetIE

That was an entire galaxy, not just earth


I cant imagine trying to fly with a firearm, I had TSA go haywire on me in HNL when part of my dive gear was on top of my laptop going thru the xray machine. I thought I was about to get cavity searched!


And I can confirm TSA keeps the **** they confiscate, I know a former employee and he has what amounts to a 5 gallon bucket, full of confiscated zippos, bics, etc.

No, the galaxy the bug was after was in the little glass ball on the cat's collar. Our entire galaxy was in a marble being played with by a giant alien child.

The civilization lived in a locker at Grand Central, and was then moved to J's locker in MIB HQ.

[SkyHawk]

Your chances of having it stolen or otherwise misplaced while in the care of TSA, are likely greater than the chances of someone randomly stealing it from your car if properly secured. How you would consider TSA as more reliable is perplexing. When required, I keep a pistol locked in a case that is chained to my seat rail, and the entire rig fits under the seat out of sight. I power the seat rearward so it is deep underneath and the only way to even attempt to get at it is to motor the seat forward from the front seat. If I was real paranoid I could pull the fuse for the power seats. I would have no qualms about leaving it for a week or two like that.

Buy a $4 Plano pistol case, lock a rock or better yet a $10 airsoft pistol in it, and be sure it is more discoverable than your real rig while still not being in plain view to openly invite a thief. But make it easy to find, like leave it on the floorboard or a seat with a shirt over it. If on the small chance your car is burgled, the perp will probably leave right away with a smile on his face when he finds your decoy, and never find your real rig.

Pics here: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...0&postcount=16

[edgerly779]

If you do fly with handgun you must declare it and sign form. Don't listen to fud that you can hide in baggage. I fly with firearms all the time.

[Connman]

Possible? yes. Will you get it back, maybe

[keenkeen]

Originally Posted by Connman

Possible? yes. Will you get it back, maybe

Possible? No. Will you get it back? N/A.