Clean Your Range Bag before Flying!

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BTW, since people have asked, I have not received any form of citation or letter from TSA or the USA in Indianapolis and have not been arrested by the FBI or Homeland Security as a result of my loose ammo in my range bag.

I have flown since (even with guns) and have not encountered any problems so my assumption that I would be on the "extra attention list" was incorrect. I guess I look harmless enough.:D
 
TSA is totally anal when it comes to firearms and what they view as weapons. I had a switch blade in the box discovered in my carry on (hard sided briefcase) once prior to 9-11. It was behind the cloth lining and I had totally forgot about it. I definitely have had loose 22 shells in my brief case. Since 9-11, I have gone over my luggage very carefully. I have also cleaned my vehicles out with regard to "weapons or explosives" (mostly ammunition in boxes or loose ammo). If it is there, I want to know it's there as something that is buried does me no good.

I hate to see innocent people hassled for inadvertant mistakes by the TSA or any law enforcement group. LEO's are generally pretty reasonable unless they believe you are a threat (read criminal). I didn't read every post, did you get your guns back?
 
Where? Do not see where?:confused:

I phrased or he inferred? Sorry for any confusion.

I said nothing about firearms being taken. I said that TSA took my ammo for my .22s, .44 and .45 and two knives. The pistols were not in my range bag, just the ammo and knives that TSA palmed.
 
I said nothing about firearms being taken. Heck, the pistols were not in my range bag, just the ammo and knives that TSA palmed.
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I believe the following caused the confusion:

They took my .22s, my .44s, my .45acp, and two knives--one a cheap Gerber and one a decent Benchmade.
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At first glance, I thought they took multiple pistols, rather than multiple rounds.
 
I strongly suspect that they "confiscated" your knives because one of them thought they looked cool and they knew you probably wouldn't press the matter. Nothing but a gross abuse of power and it makes me sick. :fire:
 
Ah, not happily drafted.
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Well, you need to take into account we know how you "roll." Having a couple tons of firepower wouldn't necessarily be out of character. ;)
 
yeah, you know you have a lot of guns when you discover some NIB on the basement floor after 8 years.
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Isn't that the truth!

All in all, sorry to hear about your bad flying experience. The one time that I flew with a handgun, everyone was very polite about it. Now I realize how lucky I was.
 
El-T, I read this the first time you posted it and re-read it just now, and it still pissed me off. I am not quite sure what I would have done in your shoes, but I can let my temper get the best of me at times. :)
 
Can't say I have found any guns on the basement floor. But, you might find one tossed on top of books in a book case and I forgot about it.

El T: I couldn't understand why they would take your guns. But that is the way I interpreted your phrasing. Glad it was not a problem, but you lost a couple knives, I take it. Confiscated stuff is not returned.

They didn't take my knife. They allowed me to check the bag as checked luggage. I was kind of glad to find it as I completely forgot where it got to... found out... slide behind the fabric in my old brief case. X-Ray caught it which is pretty humorous. After I read the knife laws, I discovered that I was probably attempting to do something illegal if I sold it at the time. It's tossed in a box with a bunch of other unused knives now.
 
Consider the possibilities. I am not a TSA thug, nor have I played one on TV. But put yourself in the position of whatever official found the loose ammo. Taking the other stuff was overkill, but imagine you find a minor or apparent accidental violation and take the loose ammo. Then the passenger wants a receipt. You think uh-oh. I have to document with his name, mine, the exact contraband on paper and if that receipt makes it back to TSA I can just see the suits upstairs sitting me down and asking what I did about it. Did I write a report? Why didn't I give a citation? If I have to do all that he's not making his flight and it might as well become a federal case.

You can call them thugs or you can consider that they could easily be pushed into making a mountain out of a molehill. I think El Tejon was wise in not pushing someone into an escalation that neither side wanted. It would have been nice if one of the boxes had room for the loose rounds and they would have suggested securing them in a box and let it go. But I don't think they want a reputation of letting things slide and being tested a lot. Anyhow, if you get stopped by a traffic cop and he takes your pot (or your kid's pot you didn't know was in the car), don't ask for a receipt.
 
A guy I work with fell victim to the ban on lighters

It was the first week they stopped letting you take them and he had a very nice cigar lighter in his bag...his mistake

But the TSA employee that found it was very rude and obviously overreacted....you know...like confiscating knives from someone checking four pistols......

My buddy adopted a very non-threatening pose and firmly asked to speak to someone in charge...

Said employee is now wrapping burgers somewhere...he had been a problem for a while and they just needed that mountain of paperwork required to actually fire a govt. employee

Your call...but if they went overboard, I would call them on it
 
I can't stand flying anymore. I don't feel safer with the TSA at the helm, just more annoyed. I've been flying for over 30 years and I'm at all time lows for miles the last 3-4 years. I avoid it at all costs.

One of my favorites to do is pack my dirty underwear in my carry on just in case I get a special check. If I have some striped specials I put them right on top... It's quite fun.

I pissed of at one goon a couple years ago because different airports had different rules about taking shoes off. When you go through 10 airports in 5 weeks and some yell at you to take your shoes off and some yell at you to keep your shoes on I finally lost it. "Make up your damn minds! Philly wants them off, ORD wants them on, I'm just going to walk around barefoot from now on..."

Years ago before I had a dedicated range bag I used a backpack and I used the same one to fly. I was selected at random (one way ticket...) for a search and they found "explosive residue" on my bag... That was fun to hear... I said I had used it as a range bag and they were like "ok, have a nice flight..."

Oh, then there was the guy that brought the derringer onto the plan. He had a belt buckle holster and forgot it was there. In the middle of the flight he found it and turned it over to the flight crew. Don't think anything came of it.... It was just like "Ok, don't do it again..."
 
I flew around the world (Literally) with a boxcutter/razorknife in my jacket pocket...

I didn't know this until I arrived back in the US... Checkpoints in Manchester, Chicago, Tokyo, Singapore, San Fransisco, and Portland, Or... A 6" extendable razorblade (the break-off a little piece to get a new sharp edge type)

It was in the bottom of my jacket, it had fallen through a hole in the inside breast pocket...


That makes ya feel safe, doesn't it??
 
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