Tweet
Just read through another thread concerning issues at the airport and a gun in the luggage and thought I would offer a few suggestions how we do it.
For what it's worth, for years we have made our annual trek to Wisconsin for deer hunting, taking our guns with us and have never had to much trouble. Depending on where the best fares are we have gone in and out of Sacramento, San Francisco, Reno, Midway and O'Hare in Chicago, and Milwaukie, flying usually on Southwest but also United and a couple of smaller carriers. Maybe we have just been lucky, but there are a couple of things we do that probably might have helped.
Of course we read and comply with both the TSA and our airlines requirements, but I also each year print out the relevant web pages from both. I put them in a file folder, tabbed and yellow highlighted at relevant points. Especially when returning through Chicago's O'Hare with ice chests of frozen venison and hunting rifles, my folder information has come in handy when dealing with airline personnel which up until then were blissfully ignorant of their companies rules and policies concerning firearms, frozen food and ice chests.
We also pack the guns disassembled so anyone with minimal firearm experience can tell at a glance they are inert, even in the x-ray. Bolt out of the rifle, barrel off the shotgun, etc. We wrap with terrycloth towels to protect if things shift around a bit during travel.
Don't flunk the 3 second attitude test. The idea is to convey the image of a savvy traveler who has done his homework rather than loudly tell the counter person they are ignorant and have their head where the sun don't shine. The one time we had to stand our ground with an obviously anti-gun animal rights activist at O'Hare she wound up getting the last word in when our guns went to Las Vegas rather than landing with us in Sacramento.
Going hunting in Wisconsin in winter we take a lot of stuff. We weigh our to be checked luggage to confirm compliance with the 50 lb limit. Especially the ice chests. I loved seeing the look of disappointment that went across that O'Hare activists face when our ice chests all came in at 49.5 lbs.
And finally, be aware of your airlines policy on ice. Some allow dry ice, some don't, some allow regular ice, some don't. Just a little more information to be printed out for the folder. We actually don't use ice anymore, just vacuum packed and frozen meat with the ice chests sealed up with duct tape. Traveling in November and December it arrives home still hard frozen.
This has just been our experience, yours may vary.
For what it's worth, for years we have made our annual trek to Wisconsin for deer hunting, taking our guns with us and have never had to much trouble. Depending on where the best fares are we have gone in and out of Sacramento, San Francisco, Reno, Midway and O'Hare in Chicago, and Milwaukie, flying usually on Southwest but also United and a couple of smaller carriers. Maybe we have just been lucky, but there are a couple of things we do that probably might have helped.
Of course we read and comply with both the TSA and our airlines requirements, but I also each year print out the relevant web pages from both. I put them in a file folder, tabbed and yellow highlighted at relevant points. Especially when returning through Chicago's O'Hare with ice chests of frozen venison and hunting rifles, my folder information has come in handy when dealing with airline personnel which up until then were blissfully ignorant of their companies rules and policies concerning firearms, frozen food and ice chests.
We also pack the guns disassembled so anyone with minimal firearm experience can tell at a glance they are inert, even in the x-ray. Bolt out of the rifle, barrel off the shotgun, etc. We wrap with terrycloth towels to protect if things shift around a bit during travel.
Don't flunk the 3 second attitude test. The idea is to convey the image of a savvy traveler who has done his homework rather than loudly tell the counter person they are ignorant and have their head where the sun don't shine. The one time we had to stand our ground with an obviously anti-gun animal rights activist at O'Hare she wound up getting the last word in when our guns went to Las Vegas rather than landing with us in Sacramento.
Going hunting in Wisconsin in winter we take a lot of stuff. We weigh our to be checked luggage to confirm compliance with the 50 lb limit. Especially the ice chests. I loved seeing the look of disappointment that went across that O'Hare activists face when our ice chests all came in at 49.5 lbs.
And finally, be aware of your airlines policy on ice. Some allow dry ice, some don't, some allow regular ice, some don't. Just a little more information to be printed out for the folder. We actually don't use ice anymore, just vacuum packed and frozen meat with the ice chests sealed up with duct tape. Traveling in November and December it arrives home still hard frozen.
This has just been our experience, yours may vary.
Comment