TX vacation

[sumpnz]

My wife, kids and I are heading to Plano in August for a vacation to visit a good friend from when we lived Tucson. We'll be flying Frontier Airlines, and I was planning on bringing Sig with me. Anything in particular I should watch for with Frontier or the TSA folks at PHX and DFW airports? Looking at their website Frontier seems to be reasonably friendly to gun owners, but first hand experiences would be appreciated. This would be my first time flying with a gun.

I've already looked up the info on packing.org so I know there's reciprocity between AZ and TX, as well as some of the differences in CCW laws. However, is there anything that I should be particularly careful of in the Plano area WRT CCW?

Our friends are very pro-gun but with the kids (they have 4 from 3-17 y.o. and I have a 2 year old and an infant) I am planning to keep it locked in the case it came in from the gun store when not wearing it just to be safe.

For those of you in the vicinity of Plano, if there's time I might be able to meet up, but I'm only there for 5 days (my wife will be there for 2 weeks) and will be dependant on our friend for transportation so it's not terribly likely. But if anyone is willing to pick me up I'll shout a beer/cup of coffee or box of ammo should schedules allow a meet.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Andrew, be sure to print up the TSA regulations regarding safe storage, declaration and so on. It has to be in a locked case and the ammunition needs to be seperated. The ammo can be in the same bag just not the same case as the pistol.

Reciprocity with TX is good to go with Arizona CCW permit. Just be aware of the specific TX laws such as 30-06 signs, alcohol related areas and such.

Enjoy your trip and visit with friends. See you soon my friend.

 

[sumpnz]

THanks Lenny. BTW I still have that side-by-side camp chair. You're welcome to stop by anytime to pick it up.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Sumpnz,

PM P95Carry about Frontier Airlines. He flew them from DC to Denver, and then to Tulsa around the 1st of April to meet us in Tulsa. The are pretty firearms friendly, I believe (my SIL is a dispatcher for Frontier).

Chris brought his Sig all the way to Tulsa, so it couldn't have been too bad.

 

[Tsonda]

Do notstay

Just kidding I hope you enjoy your trip I do not have anything to relate about Frontier. They should be good to go. I am down around Austin so we probably won't meet but welcome none the less. Arizona is a great state and I love the open carry.

James

 

[rbernie]

PM me with dates and times of your visit. I usually hit the indoor range on Friday afternoons and the rifle range on Sundays - I'm sure that I can make room in the minivan if you're interested....

 

[Walter]

Not really a gun-related reply, but I just have to ask:
You're coming from Mesa, Arizona, to Plano, Texas, in
August, for a VACATION?

Have you ever heard the expression "out of the frying pan
into the fire"?

Well, enjoy your stay here.

Walter

 

[Deer Hunter]

Plano? I have a cousin that lives there. All his friends were idiots growing up, and now they're all drugheads. Funny, such rich families and such messed up kids.

But yeah, bring your guns! TX always needs more guns.

 

[sumpnz]

Not really a gun-related reply, but I just have to ask:
You're coming from Mesa, Arizona, to Plano, Texas, in
August, for a VACATION?

Have you ever heard the expression "out of the frying pan
into the fire"?

Yeah, well it's the only time we had to visit our friends. I'm taking my first Masters level engineering class this fall, and our friend is also taking a graduate level class, and we didn't want to wait until the spring to see eachother.

rbernie and Larry - PM's will be on the way later today. I've got my 2 year old in my lap right now, and I'm lucky to get the chance to type this as it is.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Andrew, are you still planning on going to NM next spring? If so lets get together before then so we can make plans. Maybe a get together shoot type deal in the fall up Phoenix way.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[sumpnz]

Lenny - Yep still planning on the trip to Raton. My class at ASU starts Aug 21, and I'm hopefully going elk hunting again Oct 20-2?. Since work looks like it'll be uber busy come November, let's try for maybe late-Sept or early-Oct.

 

[P95Carry]

Larry mentioned this sumpnz - sorry late to the fray!

Indeed - flew Frontier early April - via Denver to Tulsa.

No probs at all - the guy at Reagan was supper nice and quickly checked in my SW99 - and added the orange label. No TSA delay.

We stopped over with Larry's daughter in Denver so retrieved baggage and next day booked in again for Tulsa hop - again Frontier staff were good but TSA wanted a look that time. No probs but I think the TSA guy was bored He spent more time 'wanding' a bottle of whiskey than looking at my gun and other baggage - go figure

Check in at Tulsa too was just fine - straightforward and this time baggage stayed with airline and we got a quick connection out of Denver back to DC.

So my experience with Frontier was A1. But yes do print out the page on http://www,tsa.gov I think it is re firearm transportation - and also I printed out pages of stature data re CO and OK to have as ref.

Best of luck and have a good trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BTW - forgot to say - I had 50 rounds of ammo in an MTM box secured closed with a heavy rubber band. That was packed in same case but within clothing away from firearm hardcase - no problems found with that on my trip.

 

[Lupinus]

don't know about the specific airline but few tips-

Print up the guidelines, you'd be surprised (or maybe not lol) how ignorant of their own guidelines security are.

Follow the guidelines to the letter or go above and beyond them, make sure it is easy to understand though some agents are not what we'd call "smart"

Get there even earlier then normal as you quite possibly will be hung up for awhile if you get stuck with ignorant agents.

And be prepared to buy new ammo when you get to TX just in case.

 

[geekWithA.45]

I've not flown armed to TX (reciprocity w/ PA was 2 days old last time I was down, and couldn't find any documentation of the fact), but everytime I've been through, the DFW TSA and ticket people ask about guns all friendly like, with an eye towards sorting out the papers properly.

"Any guns today, Mr. Geek?"

"Nope, not this trip"

"Keydokee. Just make sure you pack 'em up right when you do bring 'em"

They get it.

 

[sumpnz]

P95Carry - Thanks for the info!

Geek - Email sent.

rbernie - PM sent.