Checking firearms while flying.

[Bassbones13]

This was my first time flying domestic and checking in my CCW carry firearm while flying to a 3 different states at 3 different airports and 2 different airlines.
After reading all the horror stories I was worried and slightly paranoid.
Well... I checked with each airline and complied fully with their regulations.
I had ZERO problems...
I guess the people that had problems tried to get cute or not comply with their regulations..
Southwest, United San Jose, Reno, Phoenix . Just follow the damn rules and it took NO extra time and was ZERO hastle.

[Blademan21]

This was my first time flying domestic and checking in my CCW carry firearm while flying to a 3 different states at 3 different airports and 2 different airlines.

After reading all the horror stories I was worried and slightly paranoid.

Well... I checked with each airline and complied fully with their regulations.

I had ZERO problems...

I guess the people that had problems tried to get cute or not comply with their regulations..

Southwest, United San Jose, Reno, Phoenix . Just follow the damn rules and it took NO extra time and was ZERO hastle.

Try to fly into and out of New York City. I'll send you cigarette money,may be [emoji57].
Yes if you follow the rules set forth by the airlines and TSA you should be OK. But New York City has a whole different set of laws that most other cities and airports don't have. It so far has cost a family member 7500.00 and his court date is the first of the year. He was arrested for having a gun in his checkin luggage that he declared when he left California and and declared it again departing NY.
NY is a different planet OP.
Glad you were able to travel to those cities hassle free.




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[Doheny]

Glad it went ok. I don't recall reading any horror stories here. All the ones I've read said it went well.

[Citadelgrad87]

This was my first time flying domestic and checking in my CCW carry firearm while flying to a 3 different states at 3 different airports and 2 different airlines.
After reading all the horror stories I was worried and slightly paranoid.
Well... I checked with each airline and complied fully with their regulations.
I had ZERO problems...
I guess the people that had problems tried to get cute or not comply with their regulations..
Southwest, United San Jose, Reno, Phoenix . Just follow the damn rules and it took NO extra time and was ZERO hastle.

Nope. Its not that simple.

I fly frequently with firearms. Ive been doing so for years.

But the last time, coming out of Oakland, i did everything right and got a page to go to the gate. Please give tsa your combo so they can check to see if your firearm is loaded.

I reply, i dont think thats legal, i am supposed to be present when it is opened.

Ok, you want to do it the hard way? Go meet a local cop. Two locals show up, full of attitude, and tell me how much simpler it would be if i just gave them the combo.

Almost made me miss my flight, and a subtle threat that if it got pinged again, they might have to pull me out of security again.

Whatever. Why not have a tsahole at the check in to confirm ALL firearms are unloaded when the locked case leaves the passengers possesion?

Because its theater.

Tell me how i got cute or tried to not comply with regs.

[JackEllis]

I've checked rifles four times. Twice out of SFO to Africa, once out of Reno to Anchorage (and back), one out of Reno to Albuquerque. I also take a rifle with me when I fly to and from Anchorage (my airplane) every summer.

The only "problem" in the US was trying to bring my rifle back in from Canada one time without a form 4457. I now have one for each rifle. The agents that check baggage are generally unfamiliar with the procedures so I allow an extra hour but TSA has never been a problem.

NYC IS another story. Fortunately it's very rare for flights between California and Europe to divert to New York and if you do happen to be on a United flight that decides to divert to the New York area, it's probably going to land at Newark.

I've found it's best to be cooperative and if it's your mistake, own up to it right away.

[Bassbones13]

TSA can see if your firearm is loaded when it goes through xray.
If you empty the magazines, do not have an empty magazine in your firearm, ALL ammo in a factory box separate from the firearm but secured in the same box there should of been no need for any contact with you.
There must of been a question because of the way it was packed..

[Robotron2k84]

TSA can see if your firearm is loaded when it goes through xray.
If you empty the magazines, do not have an empty magazine in your firearm, ALL ammo in a factory box separate from the firearm but secured in the same box there should of been no need for any contact with you.
There must of been a question because of the way it was packed..

Empty mag in the gun should be ok, loaded mag in the gun is a no-no. The only issue is if you have a loaded mag outside the gun. If that's the case, it needs to be secured in foam in the same hard-sided case or in a separate hard-sided case so as not to be loose. Otherwise, ammo in original packaging or cardboard container. I always unload the mags, leave one in the gun and one in the case alongside.

Have you been asked to have your case opened due to an empty magazine in the weapon? In flying between SFO and Alaska many times, SFO does the inspection prior to security and you have to open the gun's case for visual verification. Upon return, they run it through the scanner and will inspect and open my outer luggage to ensure the case inside meets requirements. No calls to inspect after that, yet. Oakland's SOP must be different. Another reason to avoid going to Oakland.

This is for Alaska air, it very well could be different for mags for American or United, etc, I haven't checked. But it's not against TSA rules. I also use keyed locks on the gun case. This may serve as a small deterrent to requesting inspection, knowing that they HAVE to pull me from the sterile area to do so.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=0e643a4dc787c2bebb8e96698e046b29&mc=true&n=pt49.2.175&r=PART&ty=HTML%20-%20se49.2.175_110#se49.2.175_110

[Citadelgrad87]

TSA can see if your firearm is loaded when it goes through xray.
If you empty the magazines, do not have an empty magazine in your firearm, ALL ammo in a factory box separate from the firearm but secured in the same box there should of been no need for any contact with you.
There must of been a question because of the way it was packed..

Actually, it was a G27 with the slide locked back, and an empty magazine in the same locked tsa approved case.

Ammo was in a hard Ammo case separate from the firearm.

There was no issue. And it was fine on the first leg of the same trip.

[dommypls]

[Citadelgrad87]

Not sure if thats directed at me, but ive flown probably 15 times with checked firearms, and always follow the regs. See above, there was NOTHING in the way of an issue. It was in a tsa approved locked comtainer, the same one from all prior flights, in the same condition as every other time.

The cop said they could not confirm it was unloaded, and when i opejed it for him, the slide was locked back. He made a show of looking in the chamber, but it was clearly unloaded.

[TurboS600]

Nope. Its not that simple.

I fly frequently with firearms. Ive been doing so for years.

But the last time, coming out of Oakland, i did everything right and got a page to go to the gate. Please give tsa your combo so they can check to see if your firearm is loaded.

I reply, i dont think thats legal, i am supposed to be present when it is opened.

Ok, you want to do it the hard way? Go meet a local cop. Two locals show up, full of attitude, and tell me how much simpler it would be if i just gave them the combo.

Almost made me miss my flight, and a subtle threat that if it got pinged again, they might have to pull me out of security again.

Whatever. Why not have a tsahole at the check in to confirm ALL firearms are unloaded when the locked case leaves the passengers possesion?

Because its theater.

Tell me how i got cute or tried to not comply with regs.

I, too, have flown all over the US with my CCW firearm and, on occasion, a rifle or two. The ONLY problem I've had was at Boise coming back from visiting my parents. On the return flight with everything packed the same way I've packed them on every flight I've ever been on there was an issue at the TSA check. They send you to secondary check-in where they take the luggage apart and swab some stuff down for their "sniffer."

At Boise they told me that ammo cannot be in the magazines. I called for a supervisor who regurgitated the same nonsense (likely because when the guy called for him they told him about our difference of opinion). He spouted the same line exactly that the guy screening did, word for word. I told him that I've been flying all over for years, I KNOW the rules for each airline and I KNOW the TSA rules and I KNOW the law and he was wrong. He doubled down on his BS by stating that he had read the regulation concerning ammo prior to leaving his desk. At that point I called him a liar and showed him the following passage from the TSA website:

Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm. Read the requirements governing the transport of ammunition in checked baggage as defined by 49 CFR 175.10 (a)(8).
Small arms ammunition, including ammunition not exceeding .75 caliber and shotgun shells of any gauge, may be carried in the same hard-sided case as the firearm.

His reply was he did not know where I had gotten that passage even though I'd googled it on my phone in front of him and showed him the passage. They insisted that it must be in original packaging or in an ammo carrying case. I did not want them to make me late for my flight so I told them to remove the ammo from the mags (27 rounds of Winchester Ranger T; about $35 worth of ammo). I'm sure that the rounds in question ended up in the TSA agent's firearm.

Oh...and +1 on all the stories regarding NYC. My family trip to NYC was the only trip I've ever taken without a firearm. Boy, did I feel naked!

[RickD427]

I, too, have flown all over the US with my CCW firearm and, on occasion, a rifle or two. The ONLY problem I've had was at Boise coming back from visiting my parents. On the return flight with everything packed the same way I've packed them on every flight I've ever been on there was an issue at the TSA check. They send you to secondary check-in where they take the luggage apart and swab some stuff down for their "sniffer."

At Boise they told me that ammo cannot be in the magazines. I called for a supervisor who regurgitated the same nonsense (likely because when the guy called for him they told him about our difference of opinion). He spouted the same line exactly that the guy screening did, word for word. I told him that I've been flying all over for years, I KNOW the rules for each airline and I KNOW the TSA rules and I KNOW the law and he was wrong. He doubled down on his BS by stating that he had read the regulation concerning ammo prior to leaving his desk. At that point I called him a liar and showed him the following passage from the TSA website:



His reply was he did not know where I had gotten that passage even though I'd googled it on my phone in front of him and showed him the passage. They insisted that it must be in original packaging or in an ammo carrying case. I did not want them to make me late for my flight so I told them to remove the ammo from the mags (27 rounds of Winchester Ranger T; about $35 worth of ammo). I'm sure that the rounds in question ended up in the TSA agent's firearm.

Oh...and +1 on all the stories regarding NYC. My family trip to NYC was the only trip I've ever taken without a firearm. Boy, did I feel naked!

Turbo,

What airline was this?

You're correct about the content of the federal regulations, but same airlines (American Airlines for example) have more stringent corporate policies that require ammunition to be in a factory container.

Airlines have to follow the federal regs as a minimum, but they can elect to impose more stringent requirements as a matte of policy.

[ColdDeadHands1]

Nope. Its not that simple.

I fly frequently with firearms. Ive been doing so for years.

But the last time, coming out of Oakland, i did everything right and got a page to go to the gate. Please give tsa your combo so they can check to see if your firearm is loaded.

I reply, i dont think thats legal, i am supposed to be present when it is opened.

Ok, you want to do it the hard way? Go meet a local cop. Two locals show up, full of attitude, and tell me how much simpler it would be if i just gave them the combo.

Almost made me miss my flight, and a subtle threat that if it got pinged again, they might have to pull me out of security again.

Whatever. Why not have a tsahole at the check in to confirm ALL firearms are unloaded when the locked case leaves the passengers possesion?

Because its theater.

Tell me how i got cute or tried to not comply with regs.

So did you give them the combo or insist you were there when it was opened? If you insisted, did they open the case after you keyed in the combo or did they?

[Citadelgrad87]

So did you give them the combo or insist you were there when it was opened? If you insisted, did they open the case after you keyed in the combo or did they?

I insisted. Thats what turned everyone into a passive aggressive a hole.

I keyed in the combo and flipped open the case, and spun it around for him.

[skjm]

Fellows, I am about to fly from IAD (Washington DC / VA) to SFO on United. Can anyone share their experience at IAD and the must-do step I have to follow for avoiding issue/delay.

I am about to carry 4 handguns in a pelican case with non-TSA compliant pin-lock. Plan to let TSA check the pistols in the pelican case, lock it and put the case in a check-in bag. Please let me know what to look out for and things to avoid.

Thanks!


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