I apologize if this has been covered before, but I thought some of you might find it interesting.
While on vacation last week, I traveled via air with four of my firearms (three rifles and one pistol). I read up on the laws pertaining to air travel with firearms, and contacted the airline and airports ahead of time. Had different interactions in each of the airports.
The law says you must report directly to the ticket counter for your airline and declare that you are checking firearms. They must be in a lockable, hard-sided case, and the case must be locked when you show up at the airport. Ammunition and firearms can be in the same case, so long as the firearms are not loaded.
Cleveland, American Airlines. Required to unlock and open case and place a signed (by me) card inside. Escorted by AA agent to the TSA baggage check counter. The TSA handler wiped a small cotton cloth on the handle and combination locks of the case, and appeared to place that in some machine. After a readout of some type, he wrapped a label around the carry handle, marked the label with a red magic marker, and I was sent on my way. I was not asked to open the case so he could inspect the inside of the case.
St Louis, American Airlines. Same treatment as Cleveland except at the TSA baggage check area. The TSA representative asked to have my key. When he discovered the combination lock, he came back and asked for that. We were right next to two other passengers, and I asked him to let me say the combination into his ear. He looked at the other two passengers and told me they couldn't get back to the case, and I told him I didn't care if they couldn't. He frowned and leaned forward hear the combinations. He removed the protective socks I had on two of the rifles and did not replace them. In transit, the stock of the Winchester Trapper model was scuffed noticeably.
Little Rock, American Airlines. Same treatment as St Louis. The TSA representative did not remove the socks from the rifles, but simply inspected the case. He also had me unlock both sets of locks myself, since the inspection area was much closer to the entrance of the TSA zone.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Continental. The signature card looked different, but said the same thing I believe. Bad on me for not reading it more closely. The fill-in blanks wanted signed and printed name, date, flight numbers, and one other blank that was administrative in nature. The airline agent took the case to TSA herself, and told me that they might call me for my key. All the other agents walked me to the TSA counter. TSA did not call me for the key.
The case I used for transport (Winchester brand, metal sided, two keyed locks and two combination locks, egg crate foam inserts) was scuffed and scraped during transport but not dented. The locks do not appear to have been tampered with.
I expected to have the firearms checked at every oppportunity, but it wasn't so. At all times they relied on my word that the guns were unloaded. At no time did they check for themselves. I had .22LR and .17HMR ammunition in the cases in factory packaging and this was noted by two of the airports, but not objected to.
The following is unrelated but I thought it was interesting. Everyone that I struck up conversations with wanted to know what was in the case. "What's in the case?" "Is that a guitar/keyboard/trombone?" "Is that camera equipment?" When I got pulled over in Cleveland today by a LEO when I got back (did I mention I'm ready to move?) the first thing he asked was "is that a rifle back there?"
DFW is the worst airport I've flown into or out of. I advise avoiding it whenever possible if you use American Airlines. Continental took care of me when I finally got switched over to them.
jmm
While on vacation last week, I traveled via air with four of my firearms (three rifles and one pistol). I read up on the laws pertaining to air travel with firearms, and contacted the airline and airports ahead of time. Had different interactions in each of the airports.
The law says you must report directly to the ticket counter for your airline and declare that you are checking firearms. They must be in a lockable, hard-sided case, and the case must be locked when you show up at the airport. Ammunition and firearms can be in the same case, so long as the firearms are not loaded.
Cleveland, American Airlines. Required to unlock and open case and place a signed (by me) card inside. Escorted by AA agent to the TSA baggage check counter. The TSA handler wiped a small cotton cloth on the handle and combination locks of the case, and appeared to place that in some machine. After a readout of some type, he wrapped a label around the carry handle, marked the label with a red magic marker, and I was sent on my way. I was not asked to open the case so he could inspect the inside of the case.
St Louis, American Airlines. Same treatment as Cleveland except at the TSA baggage check area. The TSA representative asked to have my key. When he discovered the combination lock, he came back and asked for that. We were right next to two other passengers, and I asked him to let me say the combination into his ear. He looked at the other two passengers and told me they couldn't get back to the case, and I told him I didn't care if they couldn't. He frowned and leaned forward hear the combinations. He removed the protective socks I had on two of the rifles and did not replace them. In transit, the stock of the Winchester Trapper model was scuffed noticeably.
Little Rock, American Airlines. Same treatment as St Louis. The TSA representative did not remove the socks from the rifles, but simply inspected the case. He also had me unlock both sets of locks myself, since the inspection area was much closer to the entrance of the TSA zone.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Continental. The signature card looked different, but said the same thing I believe. Bad on me for not reading it more closely. The fill-in blanks wanted signed and printed name, date, flight numbers, and one other blank that was administrative in nature. The airline agent took the case to TSA herself, and told me that they might call me for my key. All the other agents walked me to the TSA counter. TSA did not call me for the key.
The case I used for transport (Winchester brand, metal sided, two keyed locks and two combination locks, egg crate foam inserts) was scuffed and scraped during transport but not dented. The locks do not appear to have been tampered with.
I expected to have the firearms checked at every oppportunity, but it wasn't so. At all times they relied on my word that the guns were unloaded. At no time did they check for themselves. I had .22LR and .17HMR ammunition in the cases in factory packaging and this was noted by two of the airports, but not objected to.
The following is unrelated but I thought it was interesting. Everyone that I struck up conversations with wanted to know what was in the case. "What's in the case?" "Is that a guitar/keyboard/trombone?" "Is that camera equipment?" When I got pulled over in Cleveland today by a LEO when I got back (did I mention I'm ready to move?) the first thing he asked was "is that a rifle back there?"
DFW is the worst airport I've flown into or out of. I advise avoiding it whenever possible if you use American Airlines. Continental took care of me when I finally got switched over to them.
jmm
