My experience with Amtrak Agent

[steverjo]

I was researching fares and schedules on Amtrak for some Summer travel yesterday. After I decided that the schedules would not work for me I kept talking to the agent and asked her about my ability to carry a gun onboard just to see what her answer was (I already knew).

She told me that guns were not allowed. I asked what if it is unloaded and I have no ammunition. She said no. When I asked what if the gun were locked inside a hard case and then also locked inside my checked baggage if I had no ammo at all with me. She said no. It was against policy.

When I asked her if she thought that was a good policy, she said yes. She said that only active duty LEO should carry. I asked what about retired LEO or LEO on disability pension. She said no. Just active duty only.

When I asked how does an unloaded gun, locked in a case with no ammo anywhere differ from a hammer or baseball, she sounded like she was going to have a meltdown but came back with her answer of "It's a gun, I don't believe you should ever be allowed to have guns under any circumstance".

Am i crazy or is she clueless?

 

[jcwit]

Obviously you're crazy, just keep it quite.

 

[Geronimo45]

Amtrak policy holds your 2d Amendment rights to be invalid, and has for a while. The lady's right on that point.

Her arguments strike me as:
"The policy is always right."
"Why?"
"Because it is the policy. The policy would not have been made if it were not justified."
"What if it's not justified?"
"It is justified, or it would not be policy."
Circular reasoning. Very mind-bending when you encounter it.

 

[Sans Authoritas]

Steel on target, Geronimo.

-Sans Authoritas

 

[Seancass]

what does "i dont believe you should be able to have guns under any circumstance" have to do with policy? could have said, "ok great, this thing will be a whole lot easier to rob/hijack with no guns on it anywhere."

 

[Nagant]

Guess I'll never travel by amtrak. Not that I'm surprised by any of this, of course....

 

[Picard]

I was thinking of taking my pistol on an Amtrak train, unloaded and in a case, since they don't have metal detectors or anything like that. At the station, however, I saw a cop walking around with a bomb-sniffing dog. That dog might have smelled some residual gunpowder and I would have been a cooked goose. I'm glad that I didn't take it. It's not worth the trouble. There are better fights out there to be fought than to get in trouble with Amtrak.

Hopefully things will start getting better after the DC Supreme Court case. Gun free zones are a bunch of nonsense.

 

[SomeKid]

Doesn't the FOPA protect you on AMTRAK when traveling, or are they free to ignore Fed law?

 

[Chrontius]

Apparently, they think the FOPA doesn't apply.
I'll leave it to the lawyers to work out.

Also, people wonder why trains' business is suffering.

 

[GigaBuist]

Doesn't the FOPA protect you on AMTRAK when traveling, or are they free to ignore Fed law?

I don't quite get that either. I don't suspect that FOPA comes into play, but when the airlines, now under federal control, permit checked baggage to contain firearms I would presume that Amtrack would. Obviously that isn't the case.

It came up in our household a few months ago. We can't travel Amtrak because I won't go anywhere I can't keep a gun somewhat nearby.

 

[bogie]

Guys, I knew about their policy 10 years ago. Welcome to the world.

All you get by arguing with the help is ENSURING that the help thinks that gun people are (a) stupid; and (b) stupid dangerous.

 

[kingpin008]

I can see where you were coming from, but I think questioning the woman while she was at her place of employment was a bit tacky. It's already been establised that Amtrak is anti-gun (you admit knowing as much before you started the conversation) yet you insisted on grilling the woman about her views.

Why? What does it matter what she thinks? Even if she were the most pro-gun individual in the country, it wouldn't make a difference. Instead, you took up her time asking pointless questions, hoping for an answer that, knowing the company's policy, could have cost her her job had a supervisor been listening.

I guess I just don't see the point in your wanting to subject her to the 20 questions game.

 

[Dksimon]

Wether or not he wanted to play 20 questions is beside the point.
I dont think anyone should have the right to say that we cant carry guns.

 

[Standing Wolf]

It's a gun, I don't believe you should ever be allowed to have guns under any circumstance

Your tax dollars and mine at play in the service of leftist extremism—or did you think Amtrack was paying its own way?

 

[papajohn]

Wait until some wacko violates their policy, and shoots a bunch of train passengers. Then maybe the survivors or the victims' families can sue the crap out of Amtrak for not providing adequate security.

I'm still trying to figure out why this hasn't happened yet after the mall shootings. Are there really NO lawyers willing to sue the mall owners for millions? After all, they disarmed their victims, then failed to protect them..........

Papajohn

 

[Dismantler]

I am with the Amtrtak lady on this one. The OP sems to have set out to pull her chain. If the policy is no guns, why would you tweak this lady?

I am in customer service, and people like steverjo can really make your day miserable. Most customer service people do not really want to get into any kind of discussion with the customer. We are a captive audience, and we do not really care what your world views are. We are there to give you fast courteous service and then get to the next customer. When somebody like steverjo comes along and starts to push our buttons, we naturally get angry, and all of the following customers suffer because of our now bad mood.

What's that you say? You do not get fast courteous service? Well, try the job some day. If you spend the day listening to crying kids and stand up comedians that come to your line, you'd be cranky too.

The conversation with the Amtrak lady served no purpose. It only reinforced her belief that gun owners are nitwits.

These are strong words on my part, but trust me, we in customer service just want you to do the transaction and move on. We are NOT interested in your politics, humor, or philosophy. Turn the tables around. Do I as a cashier in a convenience store want Obama and Hillary supporters preaching their liberal BS to me? Well, I got some of that during the NH primary, and I just moved them along instead of engaging in their conversation. To be fair, the Ron Paul supporter was a PITA, too. We just do not want to hear it. So, please spare us.

 

[Pilot]

What's that you say? You do not get fast courteous service? Well, try the job some day. If you spend the day listening to crying kids and stand up comedians that come to your line, you'd be cranky too.

Did you ever consider getting a different and perhaps better job?

 

[Texshooter]

I don't think you are crazy, but it sounds like she was giving you her honest opinion on questions you were asking.

Personally I find it offensive that you are busting this persons chops over policy she has no control over. She is just trying to make a living like all of us.

She told you the policy of Amtrak (not hers). What more do you want from her?

 

[qajaq59]

When I asked her if she thought that was a good policy, she said yes.

She's doing about the dullest job in the RR industry and dealing with hard heads all day. (Likely including her bosses.) You asked for her opinion and she gave it to you. I don't see the problem.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

crazy? maybe
but there is another word for what you did. and were i to do that i wouldn't have the courage to tell people. though thats the firsrt step to getting better

 

[Dismantler]

Pilot, let us save my job status for another discussion. I am trying to make a point about the Amtrak representative, and what she has to put up with, for those who have never had a customer service job. I am curently working on other jobs. Thanks though. I'm working on it. Maybe in a month, after I recover from the surgery. And I actually have left that job. After I recover I will not be going back!

 

[Pilgrim]

"It's a gun, I don't believe you should ever be allowed to have guns under any circumstance".

When I worked for the Sheriff, a records clerk once told me, "I think only the police and military should have guns."

I answered, "That's nice. It will make it easier for us."

She answered, "For what?"

I said, "For us to make you do whatever we want and you can't do anything about it."

The look on her face showed that she didn't like where that could lead to.

Pilgrim

 

[Robert Hairless]

I traveled by AMTRAK frequently enough so that I've seen people drinking and behaving boorishly on those trains. I'm not thrilled by the thought of them carrying guns or having access to them on the trip from here to there.

 

[MakAttak]

I traveled by AMTRAK frequently enough so that I've seen people drinking and behaving boorishly on those trains. I'm not thrilled by the thought of them carrying guns or having access to them on the trip from here to there.

Wow, Robert, I think I've found a rare mis-step. I can only hope this is an example of your sarcasm, but I don't see it.

If these people are willing to behave boorishly, what will stop them from carrying guns? It has already been noted Amtrak has no metal detectors.

Perhaps it's that lovely "Gun-Free Zone" sign that works so well at malls and colleges?

 

[TexasRifleman]

We can't travel Amtrak because I won't go anywhere I can't keep a gun somewhat nearby.

You are not missing a thing.