Flying with Firearms - a cautionary tale

[randomBytes]

What sort of locks do you guys use on these cases?
Are they TSA locks or something decent?

[dwalker]

You cannot use TSA locks. I use a set of Master locks keyed the same

[ke6guj]

that orange piece of paper is supposedly X-ray opaque so that they can see it when the locked case is x-rayed.

and we wouldn't want the notice to be onthe outside of the case. that makes it a "steal me" sign and it is prohibited to do so.

[beerman]

The first time I flew with a firearm (pre-9/11) the grim faced lady at the ticket counter demanded that I prove to her that the M1 rifle was unloaded. Right here? I asked. Yes, right here! was her reply so I shrugged, pulled the rifle out of the case and racked the action open. It seemed like the whole airport concourse stilled in an instant. She nodded, tight lipped, and I let the action run home and put it back into the case. A cop who had started to move in our direction changed course when he saw the rifle go back into the case.

I've never had anyone make such demands since then in 4 travels with firearms.

Same thing happened to my brother at LAX many years ago..You could hear the gasps from the crowd when he racked his AR15 in the terminal. Good times

[tonyxcom]

So I flew with a gun for the first time a few weeks ago, from Sacramento to Phoenix and back on American Airlines.

Just a pistol in one of those metal cases with the hand shaped keypad on top. The pistol was in my Raven holster, two empty mags and I used a 25round Hornady ammo box to hold the ammo.

The AA attendant made me open the pistol case "to make sure the ammo was separate" She looked inside for 2 seconds and said ok. When I got the PHX my bag didn't come off the the conveyor. I was worried and informed the bag attendant my bag didn't make it. He started calling around then after 10 mins or so he says "you have a firearm in your bag so it was held at the baggage office"

I get there and there is a BIG RED "SPECIAL HANDLING" TAG on my bag. I had coworkers waiting for me so I didn't ask any questions or raise any concerns about the tag.

On my way home, once I declared I was brought over to a special counter where the AA attendant made me fill out the normal "this gun is unloaded" card and placed it on top of my gun case in my luggage. I then put my TSA lock back on the luggage and we walked over to the some TSA guy where he opened my bag and swabbed the zippers and inner lining of my luggage. He didn't attempt to open or ask me to open the gun case.

The AA attendant then sent me on my way and he took my bag back to the counter. I forgot to ask about the red tag.

Sure enough, in Sac my bag was held at the baggage office with the big red tag on it.

[Eljay]

and we wouldn't want the notice to be onthe outside of the case. that makes it a "steal me" sign and it is prohibited to do so.

My locked pelican case is INSIDE a roller bag. They usually just tape the card to the outside of the Pelican case. It can't be seen from the outside but all the contact info can be read if there's a problem without cutting off the locks on the Pelican.

[AgentAK]

All this has me reminiscing of days long gone.
Back when I was a kid, my dad and I (along with 3-4 others) went duck hunting.
We boarded the plane carrying our shotguns in soft cases. The stewardesses greeted us with a smile and we put the guns in the cockpit.