Another "Flying with a Firearm" Thread..

[Pietro Beretta]

Hello everyone,

I am going on vacation in Hawaii, and I would like to bring 2 of my firearms for protection, and a little compition shooting.

I am flying United Airlines out of my city, and connect with Northwest Airlines at LAX.

As I understand it, to fly with firearms they must be:
-Unloaded
-Locked in a Hard Sided Case (an OEM case will work)
-Apart from ammuniton.
-In your suit case
-Declared at luggage check-in

A few question still remain:
Should the magazines be seperate from the firearm?
Should ammunition be in its own seperate container, or is it ok to leave them in the manufactures box, outside the locked firearm, but somewhere inside the suitcase.

Are you required to have a CCW license to do this in the first place?

I know to stand by for security to call me to inspect the locked firearm box, and to be present when they check the firearm.

Is there anything else I should know about?

Any suggestions or comments would be great.

 

[Squawker]

I flew back to Virginia a week ago, and took 2 of my guns with me. No hassles, since I complied with the written instructions. The guns were in a hard sided case, unloaded, and the case was locked. I also had the actions open, to make it easier to tell that they were unloaded.The case was inside my luggage. A few things to remember:
You cannot check in at the curb, you must go inside the terminal. The magazines need to be out of the gun. I had them packed separately. When you pack, you should put the gun case in on the top. When you check in at the counter, you will be asked to take the case out and open it. It's easier if the gun case is on top, so that you don't have to dig through the luggage.
Ammunition needs to be packed separately. I didn't take any, since the range that I would use required that you purchase ammo from them. Now, my reading of the regulation is that the ammo also should be locked in a separate case, but I'm not sure. You should check to be sure.

 

[VWTim]

I usually lock the slide back to remove any question the gun is empty. I have flown with empty mags in the gun, but they mentioned something and let it pass. Since then I've just pulled any mags out of the gun and place them in the same locked case next to my gun.
Ammo doesn't need to be locked, but it needs to be in a seperate part of your luggage from your gun. Also pack it in factory packaging, and only fly with full boxes. I've heard of people getting hastled and the TSA saying that a partially loaded box of ammo is secure as it could shift.

 

[Jamie C.]

I am going on vacation in Hawaii, and I would like to bring 2 of my firearms for protection, and a little compition shooting.

Might ought'a read this first:
Like Sheep to Slaughter


J.C.

 

[Ichiro]

charges were dropped

Fortunately, any charges were later dropped.

I love Hawaii, but hate their gun laws and their growing Meth problem.

~Ichiro

 

[Jamie C.]

Hey, I just figured the story was one that Pietro needed to be made aware of.

Granted, he may already know Hawaii's laws on self-defense, but I figured better safe than sorry.


J.C.

 

[treeprof]

Just forget about it; flying with them is the least of your worries when taking guns to HI. For starters, you will have to register them with the police within a few days of your arrival. You can only transport them under very limited circumstances, like between a residence, a formal gun range, a gunsmith/gun shop, and the police department. Just driving around with them in the car is verbotten. There's some more info here:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol03_Ch0121-0200D/HRS0134/HRS_0134-0003.HTM

I looked into it seriously before taking a trip there a few yrs back, but the laws are insane and the PITA factor is astronomically high.


p.s. The ammo does NOT necessarily have to be in a separate locked case. There are no TSA regs prohibiting ammo from being in the same case with the gun, and some airlines, like Delta (on whom I've traveled with guns and ammo more times than I care to count) allow properly packaged ammo to reside in the same case with the guns. Check the airline's own regs.

 

[Trebor]

I advise against taking firearms to Hawaii. They have very strict laws. You won't be able to carry them for protection and you won't be able to shoot them unless you have a membership at a range or are a guest of a member. So, why bother?

 

[HiWayMan]

I just got back from my honeymoon to New Mexico last month using Frontier. I took my snub with me. Gun was unloaded in hard plastic case with ammo also in the case in a factory box. No problems flying this way.

 

[Jim101]

On a flight from Dallas to Florida I took my KT .32, one mag and (8) rounds of ammo. The ammo was in one of those little ammo wallets, but the ammo, mag and gun were in a "Car Safe" which was a great investment....

http://www.center-of-mass.com/


Jim