Posted: 10/4/2011 1:46:16 PM EDT
| I'm nervous about it. Never done it before and I will probably only have 1-1.5 hours till my flight leaves once I reach the airport next Thursday. Anyone had an airport employee swipe their shit? Who can I hold liable if my Glock 19 is stolen? I'm flying out of Bush Intercontinental Airport if that means anything |
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Simple. 1. Print out a copy of both the TSA guidelines and the guidelines of your specific airline with regards to checked firearms before hand. Have a copy of each with you when you go to check in. 2. Generally-speaking, you're GTG if the firearm is in a key-locked, hard-sided container (I use Pelican cases when I check my handgun, FWIW). If you're bringing ammunition (duh), then it needs to be in the original factory packaging. This means no loaded magazines. Walk up to the airline to check in like normal, give them your paperwork and simply say "I also need to declare a firearm". They'll take it from there. From my experience in checking hardware, gone are the days of needing to "show clear" to a clueless gate or TSA agent, but it could vary from airline to airline and airport to airport. Do as Evil says and you'll have an uneventful experience. That said, theft is always a concern, but I fly relatively often and I've never had my luggage go missing when it included a checked firearm due to the "increased security measures". |
| Early this year I traveled with a checked firearm. It was the first and so far only time and really was no big deal. You open the case to show them it is unloaded and hang out by ticketing for a few minutes in case TSA pages you to security to re open the case. I had no issue with theft but I suppose it could happen. I had the handgun in a locked case inside my suitcase so there really was no way for anyone to know what was there. Check over the TSA website and the airline website to be sure you have everything right. |
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Quoted:
Simple. 1. Print out a copy of both the TSA guidelines and the guidelines of your specific airline with regards to checked firearms before hand. Have a copy of each with you when you go to check in. 2. Generally-speaking, you're GTG if the firearm is in a key-locked, hard-sided container (I use Pelican cases when I check my handgun, FWIW). If you're bringing ammunition (duh), then it needs to be in the original factory packaging. This means no loaded magazines. Walk up to the airline to check in like normal, give them your paperwork and simply say "I also need to declare a firearm". They'll take it from there. From my experience in checking hardware, gone are the days of needing to "show clear" to a clueless gate or TSA agent, but it could vary from airline to airline and airport to airport. Do as Evil says and you'll have an uneventful experience. Thanks bro. I actually did already print out all the rules and regs. I don't trust every employee to be competent in their employer's policy. 
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I've never had trouble with ammo in the same case as the gun(s). Plastic ammo boxes (if you reload) have also not been an issue (I add a little foam in the lid to keep the ammo from rattling).
As others have mentioned, a locked case inside your suitcase (also locked with a non TSA lock) is the way to go. I also use a couple of gun cable locks and attach the small case to the aluminum frame of my roller bag (unzip the liner to access it). |
| Lots of people have told me not to have ammo in same box as firearm. None were DHS or TSA or customs. Ammo just has to be in a container and not floating around in you bag. Flying with firearms is pretty easy. I have also used TSA locks and not had shit stolen but I am probably just lucky. |
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Quoted: Simple. 1. Print out a copy of both the TSA guidelines and the guidelines of your specific airline with regards to checked firearms before hand. Have a copy of each with you when you go to check in. 2. Generally-speaking, you're GTG if the firearm is in a key-locked, hard-sided container (I use Pelican cases when I check my handgun, FWIW). If you're bringing ammunition (duh), then it needs to be in the original factory packaging. This means no loaded magazines. Walk up to the airline to check in like normal, give them your paperwork and simply say "I also need to declare a firearm". They'll take it from there. From my experience in checking hardware, gone are the days of needing to "show clear" to a clueless gate or TSA agent, but it could vary from airline to airline and airport to airport. Do as Evil says and you'll have an uneventful experience. That said, theft is always a concern, but I fly relatively often and I've never had my luggage go missing when it included a checked firearm due to the "increased security measures". A friend used a case that could be pried open and his SIG 238 was stolen. I think he was using TSA compliant locks on the luggage itself. I've always used non-TSA compliant locks on the case and on the suitcase holding the case for handguns, and a large Pelican case with multiple padlocks when transporting rifles (and handguns in that case, but always at least one handgun in my luggage, I don't like my stuff being pawed over ;-) ). Sometimes I've had to open my suitcase so they can swab it, sometimes they run it through a separate X-ray machine while I'm there in case they need to check anything (that was at Dulles five or so years ago). |