How do I fly and bring my pistol?

[Tim Currie]

I've never done it before, and I am flying to Las Vegas in the a.m. was thinking about taking it...
I'm in CA and have CCW here, and I believe it is ok to keep your gun with you in your hotel room? And also ok to have it in the car with me in NV?

So if I am right on those two, how do I transport my firearm with me on the plane?

 

[El Tejon]

Tim, run a search, this has come up before.

Flying: best to call the airline. Put pistol in lockable case, declare your pistol at checkin ("I say, I say, I do declare, I be traveling, suh, with a pistola, I say"), highly-trained person from TSA will look, with absolute confusion, at your pistol to ensure it is unloaded, sign orange tag, put orange tag in pistola case, put pistola case in suitcase, check out airline hot babes at counter, go get latte, run through even more TSA personnel and go to gate, talk on cell phone until boarding begins.

 

[TallPine]

Become an Air Marshall

 

[Tim Currie]

Funny.

 

[Tim Currie]

Ah geez it almost seems too much a hassle....

Tell me if I have this right please.

Unload gun, place gun in hard plastic case and have some kind of lock on it. Declare that I have a firearm when I go to check my bag, show them the gun if they want, sign some tag, place tag on or in the gun case, and hopefully go about my business.

Two questions:

1) Does my actual bag/suitcase have to be locked in addition to the plastic gun case? If so, does a small padlock through the zippers do?

2) It seems as though carrying ammo is a big deal and not worth it? How are you supposed to carry the ammo, for instance, how would I carry two loaded magazines? It'd be a hassle to have to stop by Wal-Mart or the local gun shop after we get down there....

Thanks.

 

[Spot77]

My only suggestion is to insure the crap out of it. Since people WILL be going through your checked baggage, you can bet that a lot of temptation will arise.

 

[Tim Currie]

Ok nevermind guys. Just called Southwest. As long as the firearm is in a locked, hard-sided case, the baggage does not have to be locked. And the magazines can be in the same baggage loaded, as long as they are securely wrapped/packed. At least thats what the airline says.

 

[roscoe]

I flew Southwest with two rifles and pistol - no big deal. You will just walk the baggage through the scanner, whereupon it is locked up (or the gun case is). In Phoenix and San Francisco I had no trouble.

 

[yorick]

If I want a handgun with me on vacation or a trip I just overnight the thing in a FEDEX box to wherever I'm staying, then send it back when I return.

Kinda expensive I guess but I dislike messing with checked bags...

 

[Seminole]

Tim, I'm afraid that whoever you spoke to at Southwest was misinformed. According to federal law (see below), the luggage in which the locked container is placed MUST also be locked. Unfortunately, many folks who work at the airlines do not know the federal law in this regard. I have been quite insistent a couple of times that I would not break federal laws in this regard regardless of what they thought was right. In all fairness, it is rather confusing since all other luggage must be unlocked. Be patient, non-confrontational, and calm, but don't be mislead. It is a good idea to print out the sections of the law dealing with this in particular so that you can have them refer to the wording of the law itself if there is any question.

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER XII--TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PART 1540--CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY: GENERAL RULES--Table of Contents
Subpart B--Responsibilities of Passengers and Other Individuals and Persons

Sec. 1540.111 Carriage of weapons, explosives, and incendiaries by individuals.

(c) In checked baggage. A passenger may not transport or offer for
transport in checked baggage:
(1) Any loaded firearm(s).
(2) Any unloaded firearm(s) unless--
(i) The passenger declares to the aircraft operator, either orally
or in writing, before checking the baggage, that the passenger has a
firearm in his or her bag and that it is unloaded;
(ii) The firearm is unloaded;
(iii) The firearm is carried in a hard-sided container; and
(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the
passenger retains the key or combination.

 

[Ukraine Train]

I thought that since 9/11 you ARE NOT allowed to lock your baggage so they can search it? Is it different if you have a gun in there?

 

[Freakhouse]

Unless I'm reading it wrong...

(iii) The firearm is carried in a hard-sided container; and
(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the
passenger retains the key or combination.

It seems to me that the "container in (iii) and (iv) are the same container, meaning that the hard sided container must be locked, but not the suitcase that the container is carried in. Maybe I'm mistaken, but that is my take on things. Just my two cents, which are rapidly decreasing in value with inflation.

 

[Bix]

I recently flew with a pistol in checked luggage - out of O'Hare. If it can be done there, it can be done anywhere.

One thing to keep in mind is the retrieval of your equipment. Some airlines dump it on the baggage conveyors with everything else. Others send it to the airline's baggage office, where you have to go collect it. As noted above, always good to check with the particular carrier in advance.

 

[olyAR73]

"I'm in CA and have CCW here,"
Wow you must be related to someone. LOL. I know it varies from airline to airline. Especially on the way the ammo is packaged ect. Best bet is to call the airline. That way your not in an akward position when you get to the check-in desk.

 

[Tim Currie]

"I'm in CA and have CCW here,"

Naw, I just live in a good county, totally depends on the county. There are quite a few that are fairly shall-issue. I've gotten it in two different counties now
And I live in Sacramento now...hehe, well...a suburb anyway.

Ok, so I'll have a lock for the luggage just in case... then I'm covered.

 

[Jeff OTMG]

I transport mine in a locked case inside a locked suitcase. The important thing is that at least one of them MUST be hard sided, that is the one that the tag must go in, and that is the one that MUST be locked. You must not surrender the key or combination and when you surrender the suitcase it must be locked. Depending on how the TSA are set up in your airport you may be asked to unlock it when you surrender it to them for inspection while you stand there so you can relock it, or the case may be scanned while you wait and if they need for you to you will be summoned to unlock it for a manual search.

One other thing, I don't know where SW came up with the loaded mag idea, but it is a no-no. Ammo must be carried in a plastic or fiber ammo boxes with divided compartments, like a factory ammo box, and you are limited to 11 pounds TOTAL, not per gun. I tried that and it didn't work.

I have taken over 100 flights this year with firearms, and have 12 more booked this month, and I have been through all possible TSA screenings. Be sure to get to the airport at least 1.5 hours before your flights and pray. Also be careful on SW, twice this year, flying out of OKC the counter person has put a firearms declaratin tag (fortunately very small at SW) on the OUTSIDE of my suitcase. That is a federal offense and I informed the baggage office at my destination of the problem. Hopefully I won't have that problem anymore. United use to put 'FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF' on the baggage tag if the suitcase had checked firearms in it, I filed a complaint with BATF on that, I also quit flying United.

 

[Slabside]

Hello Tim:

It really isn't a big deal. Place unloaded handgun in locked hardcase...place locked hardcase inside of main compartment of suitcase...like Jeff OTMG said, ammo in hard case/box and separate from handgun case.

When checking in at ticket counter, inform ticket agent that you will be checking a fiream that's in your suitcase. The agent will ask to see it. WAIT til they say to do so. Take out of suitcase, out of hardcase, and verify w/ agent that weapon is unloaded. Agent has you sign a disclaimer tag that you will place in hardcase w/ weapon. Relock hardcase...put back in suitcase and lock when told to do so.

Depending on the airport, the TSA may have you reopen suitase and handgun case to verify. Once all that's done, you're on your way.

Best,
Slabside

MY DISCLAIMER...OBEY ALL RULES AND REGULATIONS

 

[Josh]

Hey Tim, If you haven't left yet you'll wanna check out the details at http://www.packing.org/state/index.jsp/nevada

It's OK to bring it to Vegas and you don't have to register your piece there if you're not staying long BUT...

you could run into trouble having it in a useful condition (loaded & accessable) in the car in Clark County.

Vegas cops are pretty cool to tourists who aren't up to no good but I bet you don't wanna have that talk with them.


Hope you have fun in SinCity & win big (or at least lose slow).

Josh

 

[Sean Cloherty]

I just flew on Delta Song two last week and here is my experience:

The friendly airline people at BDL (Hartford- Windsor Locks, CT) had me sign a tag to stating that the pistol was unloaded. I put it into the locked container. Said container then was placed in soft-sided luggage which TSA later let me padlock They then spent time examining how cool the Pelican 1200 container was and wondered if I had it custome made. (no - just me and some foam and an knife).

TSA guys then take bag and run it through super gizmotron machine, give me the thumbs up and I go to rejoin my family for the flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Totally cool experience after fearing the worst for weeks prior to the trip.

THE RETURN TRIP WAS NOT SO MUCH FUN.

Airline folks in Fort Lauderdale gave me the same tag to fill.

This time TSA folks wanted me to open the case and demanded the keys and combo. I said that I would be happy to open it for them and they still demanded keys.

To give them the keys/combo is a violation of Federal law and I so stated. I told him that I didn't want to cause any trouble, but that I didn't want to violate the law and go to jail either. He responded that they do it all the time without any problem. I then showed him a prinout from the TSA website with the particular rule higlighted in bright pink. He eventually relented and let me open and relock the case, but still maintained that:

a. He was a Federal agent so it didn't apply to him
b. He does it all the time
c. That the TSA website is wrong
d. That the rule doesn't mean what it says.

Well eventually I got it screened and relocked and sent on it's way without any further fuss or violating the law. It was not pleasant knowing that I was arguing with someone who could have me jailed for looking at him funny, but I must give him credit for accepting that I wasn't going to stand down on this issue.

It must have shown in my body language, since my wife was already starting to expend a lot of effort in appearing unconcerned.

As far as ammunition goes, although I informed them at the counter that I had a couple of boxes of ammo in a different bag, they could not have cared less in CT or FL. I don't really know if that is normal or not.

In any case, check this forum, The Firing Line, and packing.org for more information. I definitely would have copies of the rules for "educational purposes" and be prepared to discuss calmly at the screening area.

 

[Sunray]

"...the baggage does not have to be locked..." On a carry on right? Checked, you'd be daft not to lock it. How do you get CCW in CA? Just curious.

 

[pignock]

And the ammo CANNOT be shipped in the same piece of luggage.

Keith

 

[CatsDieNow]

I flew out of DFW on United and couldn't believe what they did to me. I am attempting to check 2 handguns and a rifle.

Ticket guy (not TSA): "Is your firearms unloaded and the ammo seperate?"

Me: "Yup, they are unloaded. I have no ammunition with me."

Ticket guy: "Show me."

Me: "Right here?"

Ticket guy: "Yes."

Me: "Ummm...okay." (I open the rifle case and try to figure out exactly where a safe direction is in a crowded airport terminal)

Various people behind me in ticket line: "OMG! She's got a gun."

Me: (Turing around and smiling) "No, I've got enough guns with me to invade a small, third-world country." (Turn back around and locks slides back on handguns)

Ticket guy: "Go see the TSA reps over there." (hands me firearm tags and boarding pass)

TSA: (after x-raying my gun cases and slapping tamper-proof stickers over the locks) "Here you go."

--- THE TSA GUY GIVES ME BACK MY HANDGUN CASE AND TELLS ME TO GO TO THE SECURITY CHECKPOINT ---

Me: "You want me to try and walk into the secured area with these?"

TSA: "Oh right, I better walk this over to the ticket counter for you."


Bottom line is, if you ask 10 different "authorities" about airline policy, you will get 10 different answers. They are just as clueless as us poor passengers.

 

[treeprof]

Ammo in same case as firearm is airline-specific. Some no, some yes. Same bag for both on Delta, both pre and post 9/11.

 

[pittspilot]

"Me: "You want me to try and walk into the secured area with these?"

That is hilarious. TSA quote of the month.

 

[Logistar]

I will be flying with a handgun within then next month. I will lock it in the hard-sided case it came in. Does anyone know if ANY airline requires a hard-sided suitcase also.

In previous posts, I see where at least some of you have used soft-sided luggage. I don't know which airline I will be using and don't want to run out at the last minute and buy hard-sided luggage.

Has any airline required hard-sided luggage in addition to the hard case the gun will be in????

Thanks!

Logistar