Flying with magazines

[giggitygiggity]

I read this little nugget about flying with firearm magazines on TSA’s website here:

Transporting Firearms and Ammunition | Transportation Security Administration

www.tsa.gov

The site states,

• Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm. Read the requirementsgoverning the transport of ammunition in checked baggage as defined by 49 CFR 175.10 (a)(8).
• Ammunition may be transported in the same hard-sided, locked case as a firearm if it has been packed as described above. You cannot use firearm magazines or clips for packing ammunition unless they completely enclose the ammunition. Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be boxed or included within a hard-sided, locked case.

Unless I’m reading something incorrectly or unless TSA has an atypical definition of “firearms magazine,” then the TSA’s website indicates that if you check magazines, then you are only in compliance if they are in a locked, hard-sided case. But then I’m confused because it states that they can be “boxed,” which I’m not sure how one defines that; does a cardboard box containing a magazine mean that I’m in compliance? Regardless, it is utterly ridiculous. Does anyone have a link to the actual CFR or statute regarding this as I wonder if the TSA’s website concerning this was created by an overzealous moron who decided to add their own spin to the actual law.

 

[herrwalther]

TSA’s website concerning this was created by an overzealous moron

It is the TSA, so yes.

I have flown dozens of times with handguns. The easiest way to do so is to unload the magazines, put the ammo in a factory box, and put the ammo box in the case with firearm and magazines. Cases with a removable foam bottom work great for this. You can stick magazines and ammo underneath and the firearm on top. This way, you won't run afoul of some idiot TSA or airline agent saying the top round isn't fully enclosed, like their guidelines say. That has happened to me on a flight. So I unloaded the magazine right at the counter to go back in the ammo box.

 

[giggitygiggity]

It is the TSA, so yes.

I have flown dozens of times with handguns. The easiest way to do so is to unload the magazines, put the ammo in a factory box, and put the ammo box in the case with firearm and magazines. Cases with a removable foam bottom work great for this. You can stick magazines and ammo underneath and the firearm on top. This way, you won't run afoul of some idiot TSA or airline agent saying the top round isn't fully enclosed, like their guidelines say. That has happened to me on a flight. So I unloaded the magazine right at the counter to go back in the ammo box.

Agreed. I suppose the asininity of it is that if I were flying with just magazines and no ammo and no firearm, according to the TSA’s website, I would still have to ensure that the magazines are “boxed” or “included within a locked hard-sided case.” So the $20 Glock mags would have to be treated nearly the same as a handgun (even if no handgun were present) with the exception of the requirement to declare at the airline counter.

 

[Old Dog]

Actually, I have flown multiple times recently on Alaska, Delta and United with at least a couple spare (unloaded) mags loose in my checked suitcase.

 

[bearcreek]

Agreed. I suppose the asininity of it is that if I were flying with just magazines and no ammo and no firearm, according to the TSA’s website, I would still have to ensure that the magazines are “boxed” or “included within a locked hard-sided case.” So the $20 Glock mags would have to be treated nearly the same as a handgun (even if no handgun were present) with the exception of the requirement to declare at the airline counter.

One word can make a significant difference. Magazines, "must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm". Basically, magazines need to be securely boxed. There is no requirement that they be in a locked case.

 

[giggitygiggity]

One word can make a significant difference. Magazines, "must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm". Basically, magazines need to be securely boxed. There is no requirement that they be in a locked case.

I understand the difference between “and” and “or” and “and/or” and appreciate the difference between them.

Your statement that “There is no requirement that they be in a locked case” contradicts the second bullet point quoted in the OP, which states, “Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be boxed or included within a hard-sided, locked case.”

This wording is confusing because one could read it to mean that so long as the magazines are boxed, they need not be locked. However, if they are in a hard-sided case, they must be locked. This calls into question the definition of “boxed” and why the TSA states that the hard-sided case must be locked, but that boxed magazines can presumably remain unlocked.

Keep in mind that I pulled the info from TSA’s website. I welcome any reference to that actual CFR/statute governing flying with magazines to help determine what is law and what has been misconstrued by a government employee typing info on the TSA’s website.

 

[bearcreek]

Your statement that “There is no requirement that they be in a locked case” contradicts the second bullet point quoted in the OP, which states, “Firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be boxed or included within a hard-sided, locked case.”

I don't think it contradicts it so much as it represents a different understanding, one which (obviously) I believe to be accurate. This is based, at least partially, (and I do understand that this is not conclusive) on extensive experience flying with firearms and magazines. To understand it better, remove the part in that sentence about the unloaded firearm. Would it make sense to say that a magazine needed to be "securely boxed within a hard sided , locked case"? So, inside a box which is then inside a hard sided case? Essentially double boxed? I know for a fact that they don't require that.

 

[wayneinFL]

I don't think it contradicts it so much as it represents a different understanding, one which (obviously) I believe to be accurate. This is based, at least partially, (and I do understand that this is not conclusive) on extensive experience flying with firearms and magazines. To understand it better, remove the part in that sentence about the unloaded firearm. Would it make sense to say that a magazine needed to be "securely boxed within a hard sided , locked case"? So, inside a box which is then inside a hard sided case? Essentially double boxed? I know for a fact that they don't require that.

I always fly with a locked hard sided suitcase. I've always just stuffed my unloaded magazines between my clothes.

 

[bearcreek]

I always fly with a locked hard sided suitcase. I've always just stuffed my unloaded magazines between my clothes.

Correct. They do not need to be inside boxes inside the hard suitcase. If you had the mags in a duffel bag, for example, they would need to be "securely boxed".