AZ resident traveling to IA by air (and NE)

[AZ PAUL]

Good evening,

I am a Arizona resident with an AZ CCW that will be traveling to Sioux City IA in early December. I will be flying with Southwest Airlines into Omaha NE. I have checked both states and see that they both accept an AZ CCW. Here are my two questions (I will still continue to research)...

1. Do I need to know anything extra (other than airline regs) about flying with my handgun? Any tips? Do's? Dont's?

2. Is there anything extra that I should know about carrying my handgun in the states of Nebraska and Iowa?


I appreciate all the help,
Paul

 

[Arp32]

I flew out of Sky Harbor recently, informed the counter agent I was traveling with an unloaded firearm and she sent me to a table off to the side. They had me unlock the combo lock on my Pelican case, checked that my revolver was unloaded and ammo was in a box, had me lock it all up and I was set. Added maybe 7 minutes to check in (I had checked bags anyway).

Can't speak to Iowa, but it was easy on the Phoenix end.

 

[Arp32]

PS - they made a big deal about ammo being sealed in a "factory" box. I think it was just that crew or airline (Delta), but in any case I was fine because I had a fresh box of 25 Hornady JHP's. YMMV.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Just so nobody lands themselves in trouble - it is against Federal regulations to use a TSA lock on the hard sided gun case. Federal regulations require that only the owner of the firearm retains the key/combination to the lock. If a TSA lock is used, the owner no longer has the sole key/combo to the lock and is violation of the regulation.

 

[Arp32]

Oops... Edited my response to avoid misleading anyone.

 

[harrygunner]

I've flown into and out of Omaha several times. Then, rent a car to drive to Sioux City. Direct flight into "SUX" ( <- Sioux City airport designation ) are noisy prop planes. Plus, car rental companies in Sioux City (even at the airport) are not open 24/7, so a late arrival can complicate things. The one and only time I flew directly in, on a Sunday, I had to get a taxi to my hotel and pick up a rental Monday.

Omaha has never been a problem. But, I learned a long time ago to place my ammon boxes in a separate locked small metal box. There's never been an ammo issue with any airline since.

The only small complaint is flying out of SUX. They want to check for explosive residue on every part of every piece of luggage. Makes for a long wait. But, there were no issues with my checking in my gun.

 

[unspellable]

Iowa quirk

One odd little quirk of Iowa law you should be aware of. I's a non-issue so long as you are aware of it and act accordingly.

If you place an empty firearm in a case in the trunk, and you place a loaded magazine for it in another container in the trunk, the firearm is considered to be loaded for legal purposes and you are thereby carrying concealed.

Of course with a valid CCW permit you can carry it loaded in the passenger compartment. And if you want to stick it in the trunk it's no problem to empty the magazine. (I suppose in theory you could have it loaded in the trunk since you have a CCW but I've never heard of that question coming up.)

There is no legal requirement to inform law enforcement that you are carrying but they recommend you do so. (There are various opinions on the wisdom of that. I once had a state trooper detain me for 45 minutes while he checked out my CCW permit.)

 

[Marc257]

Use a case that is lockable in at least two places so that it isn't "easily wedged open". Flown out of Nashville and Seattle/Tacoma on Southwest and neither was an issue.

 

[medalguy]

You're lucky to be flying SW. In my experience they are about the only airline where all the employees seem to be knowledgable about flying with firearms.