My Experience Flying with a Firearm

[SuperSet]

Good to hear that everything went smoothly for you. I fly regularly between LAX and DCA (Ronald Reagan). Never had an issue flying with a rifle, shotgun and pistol.
Ive found that it helps if you understand the policy and rules and act like it's no big deal.

Flying out of Reagan this morning and this is how it went:

Me: I have a firearm to declare so I need that orange form.
Ticket Agent: Firearms unloaded?
Me: Yes
Ticket Agent: I need you to open the case so I can verify that your firearms are unloaded.
Me: (sign form) I usually just crack open my case enough to slide in the form.
Ticket agent: Ok, sir. I'll meet you next to TSA bag drop.
Me: (Lock case and wheel over to TSA bag drop).

Hand your checked luggage and gun case to TSA. Watch them put it on belt, scan it and give you the thumbs up. You're done.

[glockman19]

IF checking in baggage I'll fly with firearms, otherwise I overnight it and ammo to myself. Sounds like you had a normal experience outside CA, NY & IL.

[retiredAFcop]

When I was in college in KY in the early 1990s, I would usually bring at least one firearm home with me when I came back To CA to visit my parents for vacations (all of my firearms were in KY with me).
Every time, I was very careful to have the unloaded firearm in the approved locked container, with a chamber tag inserted, and only bring factory ammo in new, complete boxes.
Tell the agent in Nashville or Memphis that you have a firearm to declare, and they ask if you're going hunting, what kind of gun it is, etc. and they cheerily process the gun in about two minutes flat.
At Oakland the agent freaked out a bit, and called for a supervisor. The process took about twenty minutes.
At San Francisco, it took over a half an hour, and involved two supervisors and several cops/security people trying to figure out what to do, waving the firearms around, and scaring the hell out of people. I was told by the police LT that I should just pack it in my checked luggage next time and not create problems by declaring it, since I had held up the line for over half an hour and people were about to miss their flights. When I told him I was just following the law, he called me a smartass, and *****ed about how non-cops shouldn't be allowed to own firearms.

One note to the wise: When you arrive at your destination, do not remove the tag that they place on the gun case and/or your luggage until you are out of the airport, and if you do remove them, make sure you don't just throw them away. Having those tags will help to avoid any unfortunate misunderstanding with the airport cops.

[smle-man]

I brought an M1 rifle back from Pittsburgh pre 9/11. The lady at the US Air counter said it had to be checked to see that it was empty. I said right here right now? Yep. So I took it out of the case and yanked the bolt back with that distinct sound. No one even looked at me. She said thanks and I packed it back up.

[madsend81]

I brought an M1 rifle back from Pittsburgh pre 9/11. The lady at the US Air counter said it had to be checked to see that it was empty. I said right here right now? Yep. So I took it out of the case and yanked the bolt back with that distinct sound. No one even looked at me. She said thanks and I packed it back up.

As I read that, I heard the sound of an M1 Garand bolt racking back in my head. Boy is that a wonderful sound

[mycrstuff]

For those who flown with rifles recently are you getting hit with the over size luggage fee? I was going to fly Southwest with a rifle and the smallest case I have was over the size limit per the Southwest web site. I was worried about getting hit with a $75 fee each way so I shipped the rifle Fedex for less than $25 each way.

[SanPedroShooter]

For those who flown with rifles recently are you getting hit with the over size luggage fee? I was going to fly Southwest with a rifle and the smallest case I have was over the size limit per the Southwest web site. I was worried about getting hit with a $75 fee each way so I shipped the rifle Fedex for less than $25 each way.

I have a plano hard side rifle case (it will fit two 14.5 bbl AR's ) a cheap one at that and it is technically over the bag dimension limit, I think its a little to long if I have it right, but no one has ever mentioned it. It also depends on where you measure it from.

When I get one free checked bag, I pack guns, my wife packs clothes, lol...

But yeah, if they ever broke out the tape measure it would get expensive fast.

The first time I checked it, it never came out on the carousel and I panicked a bit. Turns out they have a little office for strollers and fishing rods and snowboards etc.. Oversize or odd shaped bags.

[Poms&Guns]

I flew SouthWest from San Jose to Nashville, TN for the first time with my Glock 19. I went up to the counter by myself (hubby was in car getting ready to head back home) and the guy at the counter was great. Got the paper for me to fill out, had me open my case, show him it was empty and lock it back up. Then they taped the card to the case and it went back into my checked luggage and i met up with it in Nashville. On the return trip, the lady was expert. She did everything quietly and efficiently. Took less than 5 minutes from start to finish.
I did not carry ammo as I was told "Don't worry about it. Just buy it in Bowling Green." Yeah right...famous last words! I did manage to find a place after a few days and I bought 9mm ammo and my mom bought new gun...LOL. We went to the range the following morning and had a blast. Lookin forward to our next mother daughter shooting time.

[dwtt]

Many people have flown with firearms and ammo many, many times and didn't have anything bad happen. What did the OP expect to happen?
What happened to him happens every day. Nothing special, nothing to write about, it's business as usual.

[Regulus]

Many people have flown with firearms and ammo many, many times and didn't have anything bad happen. What did the OP expect to happen?
What happened to him happens every day. Nothing special, nothing to write about, it's business as usual.

There is a campaign to demonize firearms throughout the country. From our President, all the way down to City, State and local politicians. Some recent events, especially in traditionally gun 'safe' States like Texas, have law abiding citizens (and soldiers) being arrested for mere possession (see Temple Texas arrest for "Rudely Displaying" a Rifle). Then there are those (justified or not) who will spend 3-5 years in prison for just passing through anti-gun states with unloaded guns (see Reason #7,452 to stay out of New Jersey).

So, while it is easy to state that it's nothing to write about, there is some apprehension today, where there wasn't in the past. Especially for those of us who have not done it before.

[SGTKane]

I've flown a couple of times out of CA with my handguns in my checked luggage and the process has been to "Declare it, fill out the form, get the case swiped and occasionally open it to show the firearms). Occasionally I'll get a TSA agent who *****es about the locks not being TSA approved (meaning they can't open them).

The only time I've ever had any trouble was when my flight (Sacramento to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Manchester NH) was diverted to Boston because of icy runways or something.

And that wasn't even much of an issue. Because we were close to our final destination the airline (Delta) offered to put us on the shuttle bus to get us there, and the shuttle wouldn't let me do it because of the firearms. Delta paid for a rental car though for me so it worked out.

[madsend81]

Why I posted my experience...

Many people have flown with firearms and ammo many, many times and didn't have anything bad happen. What did the OP expect to happen?
What happened to him happens every day. Nothing special, nothing to write about, it's business as usual.

Well, it was my first time flying with a firearm so I wasn't sure exactly what would happen. I didn't expect anything bad. I knew what the laws and regulations were and followed them as I understood them. I thought I would highlight the different reactions I got between the two airports and see if anyone else had any similar experiences. I also thought I'd share my experience to help those who may have wanted to fly with their firearm(s), but were unsure of what to expect. From the looks of the responses, it seems that my posting of my experience was beneficial to some.

I'm sure it is, and hope it is, business as usual for 99% of those flying with firearms. Hopefully, as more individuals post their experiences of flying with firearms, some of the apprehension, at least amongst our community, can be abated.

[SanPedroShooter]

I've flown a couple of times out of CA with my handguns in my checked luggage and the process has been to "Declare it, fill out the form, get the case swiped and occasionally open it to show the firearms). Occasionally I'll get a TSA agent who *****es about the locks not being TSA approved (meaning they can't open them).

The only time I've ever had any trouble was when my flight (Sacramento to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Manchester NH) was diverted to Boston because of icy runways or something.

And that wasn't even much of an issue. Because we were close to our final destination the airline (Delta) offered to put us on the shuttle bus to get us there, and the shuttle wouldn't let me do it because of the firearms. Delta paid for a rental car though for me so it worked out.

Now that's where it gets dangerous. You could have landed in NY or NJ... Then what I wonder?

Refuse to take possession of you bags? ****ing states are evil.

[trevorlc]

I've flown a few times with one or more of my firearms the last couple months on a few airlines, its a pretty similar experience. Never had anyone yell back to another person about it, but i've never had them whisper ether. To me they seem to generally not have an opinion or care about it. I did have one agent ask me about what she needed to do to buy one and I gave her my e-mail and helped her find a class in her area for first time shooters. (Her desire to be a first time buyer was completely because of the gun control push this year.)

I've run into the agent that doesn't know what to do and I've had to help them along a little bit.

Couple of things I've found interesting,

The declaration cards/forms on Virgin America the card has elastic and they want it on the handle of the case with the gun, which if its in another piece of luggage means its out of sight. However if its just a pelican case then you have a giant tag on the outside letting everyone know whats inside. On the other hand Delta the card is just a card and they want it INSIDE the locked case... which is funny/odd to me since I have the key...

Also TSA inspection so far I've run into 3 different procedures. 1. At the check bag counter they call TSA and an agent takes you aside to a table, side room, etc and inspects things there. 2. They drop it on the belt with all the check luggage and thats it. 3. It goes on the belt with all the checked luggage and then you get a phone call on your cell phone, or the gate agent calls your name and you go meet a TSA agent somewhere where they escort you into a special area where they do the inspection inspection in front of you.

Also I've NEVER been asked to open the actual gun case (besides putting the delta card inside before TSA even got there), and they've never actually inspected the gun or anything in the case. (Yup that means they've never actually opened the action to see if it was unloaded, or asked me to do so.)

[SanPedroShooter]

I think the declaration is supposed to be inside per FAA rules.

I had an TSA agent open the case once in Medford OR. He wanted to take the keys and case into the back room. I argued with him for awhile, but in the end I just let him have it.

I think he just wanted to fondle my AR. He came back and start telling me about his guns....

He also taped up a broken ammo box with TSA tape. I still have it.