Heres the deal:  I wanna bring my AR to Arizona to go shooting, my plane is leaving from Newark Airport.  So I figure rather than chance getting arrested while driving through the city with it, I'm just going to mail the lower receiver to my cousins dealer out there.

I don't want to take off my EOTech and remount it, so I'm thinking about just packing the postban upper receiver in my luggage thats getting checked at the airport.  Now I'm almost 100% positive as far as the law is concerened a upper receiver is a piece of metal because it has no serial #'s on it.


The problem is... will they xray my checked luggage and pull it off the plane because they think its a gun?

AWESOME...... found this.

(B10) May a nonlicensee ship firearms interstate for his or her use in hunting or other lawful activity? [Back]


Yes. A person may ship a firearm to himself or herself in care of another person in the state where he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. The package should be addressed to the owner. Persons other than the owner should not open the package and take possession of the firearm.  (P.S. Thanks Phil!)

Just mail the upper to your cousins. It might be cheaper in the long run. What if they do stop you and you are delayed, your plane leaves, you are out for that fare. Then you are going to the ticket counter to get another plane ticket. $$ Probaly more hassle then it is worth. Or, they might not even blink a eye at what is in your luggage.

No way I'd take the chance. Mail it US Priority Mail.

what if you check it as if it is a gun at newark, even though it isn't complete, and avoid the worry.

X-ray or machine sniffers to smell the burnt powder residue. Either way they will find it. Better to just claim it as a firearm, regardless of whether it complete or not. That way your arse is covered. Will require a locking case if I recall, with visual inspection at the check-in counter.

I'm just gonna mail it whole, if it disappears in the mail, I'll just make sure whoever it went out with pays dearly.

I am not sure about this.  You should check up on the following;  I think you can mail the whole rifle to yourself, addressed with your name and in care of your cousin's name and address, but it is important that your cousin and the rest of his family does not open the package.  If you can do this, send the package by next day air and insure it for security and peace of mind.


ETA:  Make sure you declare it as a rifle on your shipping forms for insurance purposes.  And follow up on whether if it is okay to ship a rifle to yourself in another state.

I was going to ship it to a FFL he knows, I'm not so sure about shipping to myself...

RKBAR? PHIL?  feel free to chime in hehe

I have flown on Spirit Airlines out of AC several times, not one problem in travelling with firearms, Call the Airline and ask their procedures.

Providing there is no state or local law prohibiting it in the state you are shipping it to it is legal for you to ship a firearm addressed to yourself in care of another person for any lawful purpose.  Typically this would include relocating, hunting trip, firearm competition, target shooting etc. You must ship the item personally and not have a third party ship it.   The other person must not open the package. You must declare to the common carrier that you are shipping a firearm.  The problem is a common carrier may give you hard time shipping it to yourself though. For a rifle you are probably better off using USPS priority mail.

Your the second to recommend the USPS.  Is UPS and FedEx really not a good idea??

Why? Is it because they will hassle me about shipping a rifle?


I don't want to give a postal worker an AR lol

IT is totally cool to ship it to yourself in another state.

and its totally cool to check it in your baggage. you must declare it at the ticket counter.
they will make sure its unloaded,then they will lock it and its on its way.

i have a buddy that brings his no ban AR all the time thru newark. as long as the trip ends in a free state. which is pa of course, for us.

and he never has a problem going home with it.
no ammo. we have that at our destinations already.

go fly, shoot and have fun.

Will EWR give me grief if I declare a handgun at baggage? Is it commonly done at that airport?

So I can never bring my AR anywhere when leaving from a NYC airport?

Quoted: Well I personally wouldn't... I fly out of JFK with my pistols and never a real problem, but the idiots that work there don't even like to touch the firearm to verify its unloaded... last inspector used a pen in the the trigger guard to pick it up.  Informed him if he dropped the pistol and damaged it, I would report him for negligence.  He just shut the case, took down my information off my permit and had me lock my bag.  They do not like firearms in the NYC airport... a very different culture there.

Yea they are freakin terrified of them. I tried to walk in with a fishing pole and they looked me funny. It was taken apart and in 2 peices about 3' 1/2" long each. They looked at me and said "That a fishin pole?". I said "Yea Im just going to put it in the overhead bin.". They said I cant because its a weapon. Im like WTF? So I had to check it as luggage.
  Flying home from FL they let me take it on as a carry on and I put it in the overhead bin. I know its easy just to check it but I dont like them throwing around stuff I paid alot of money for. I now have a case for them.

Every day at JFK, we see shotguns going to South America, africa and England.  
Ocasionally we see AR's going through, they usualy end up as saved images on the baggage CTX system.  
Most people that work at JFK, will not travel with anything but carry-on bags (That probably goes for all airport workers worldwide).
If you could see the ramp personel handling bags, you would scream.  
Shipping the lower sounds like the best idea.  

Bill H.

Quoted: IT is totally cool to ship it to yourself in another state. and its totally cool to check it in your baggage. you must declare it at the ticket counter. they will make sure its unloaded,then they will lock it and its on its way. i have a buddy that brings his no ban AR all the time thru newark. as long as the trip ends in a free state. which is pa of course, for us. and he never has a problem going home with it. no ammo. we have that at our destinations already. go fly, shoot and have fun.

Thats Right.
I work for AA and I travel with my no ban AR to PA and my NJ legal AR to NJ all the time.
Put it in a locked rifle case, declare it and off you go.

Just don't be a prick about it and you will never have a problem.

Done it lots of time with no issues, no damage no nothing.

Also the Ramp Apes will toss it around so make sure you have something better than a kmart gun case.

Quoted: Every day at JFK, we see shotguns going to South America, africa and England.   Ocasionally we see AR's going through, they usualy end up as saved images on the baggage CTX system.   Most people that work at JFK, will not travel with anything but carry-on bags (That probably goes for all airport workers worldwide). If you could see the ramp personel handling bags, you would scream.   Shipping the lower sounds like the best idea.   Bill H.

How do AR's go through if they are illegal to be there?

as long as it is legal at the begining and ending of the route you are good to go

you are only passing thru.

Yes, that currently applies to pistols, however NYC law has a provision for allowing long guns for a brief period. Magazines are an issue with no relief granted, same for NJ. I've flown out of Newark with 3 AR's at a time, no problem. If you are driving to Newark through NYC, and the gun is packaged for airline transport you are in compliance with transport regs on the ground. Just declare it and go, or ship the whole thing to yourself in AZ.

Warning about traveling through New York airports

I overnight ship the firearm (UPS)  to Myself at the destination I am going to, When I arrive I sign for my own rifle, End of problem.
On the return trip I do the same thing, Except to save a buck I usually ship it 2nd day instead of overnight.

Quoted: Yes, that currently applies to pistols, however NYC law has a provision for allowing long guns for a brief period. Magazines are an issue with no relief granted, same for NJ. I've flown out of Newark with 3 AR's at a time, no problem. If you are driving to Newark through NYC, and the gun is packaged for airline transport you are in compliance with transport regs on the ground. Just declare it and go, or ship the whole thing to yourself in AZ.

+1

my thoughts exactly...
I travel lots of times through Newark with no issues, even with my c-mag (going and coming from PA of course)

 On July 3, 05, I went through LaGuardia airport to go to my other house in FL. I have a carrying permit for FL so I took my Glock 27 with me. I declared it at the Delta baggage counter as required. Shortly thereafter two PA cops came over to discuss my possesion of a handgun in NYC. I advised them that there is a federal statute which allows for the transportation of firearms interstate for lawful purposes. I had all my paperwork for both NJ where I live and FL.
 Of course, I got the customary threatening of arrest. I advised the officers that they had better get a supervisor or go to a computer with internet access before taking any action. Since they were going to arrest me for something that was legal they would be commiting a "false arrest" and violating my rights. After a short "private conversation" between themselves they said they would cut me a break and let me go. Yeah right!
 After I got home and picked I up the news letter from our rifle and pistol club in my mail. I was surprised to find an article about numerous instances of the same B.S. that I went through. It was accompanied by a letter from the office of the Federal Attorney General addressing the issue. It stated that a copy would be forwarded to the LE agencies at the airports. I guess nobody read it to the two idiots I dealt with. The article advised to carry a copy of the statute and the letter with you while traveling to prevent the crap I had to go through. Of course you know I sent a letter and copies of both the article, AG letter and the statute to the Port Authority police. I won't hold my breath waiting for the apology letter.

 The statute is US code - Title 18 926A Interstate transportation of firearms. Here is the address for the law.http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000926---A000-.html

I just remembered I have a copy of the letter For the AG in a PDF file. If anybody needs it I can email it to you or somebody let me know how to post it here some how I will be glad to.

E-mail sent.  Thanks!

interesting. in other discussions about out of staters getting arrested ay NY airports it was stated that the POPA only covered driving with firearms
I have some webspace (crappy geocities but it works) and could host the pdf file so that you don't have to keep emailing it

Just get yourself a Browning Travel gun case with locks and have a good time shooting.
Has long as it is locked in your car to the airport.
Then tell the bell cap you need to have a rifle checked in.
You can't get in trouble and even if you have a pistol locked in the case your ok.
Has long as you have a permit for it.
Make sure no ammo is in the case and what I do is remove the Bolt or put a cable lock through my pistol so there is no question about it being loaded.

Here's the letter dvor316 was talking about
www.geocities.com/arfpdf/DOJltrTSA.pdf
if for some reason the hotlink doesn't work (which sometimes happens with geocities) go here and click the link for it
www.geocities.com/arfpdf/index.html

That's the same letter the NYSRPA has on their website. Until the New York AG's office issues a favorable opinion on the issue I would not travel to/from/through an airport in NYS with an unlicensed handgun.


www.nysrpa.org/FOPA-DOJltrTSA.pdf

www.nysrpa.org/airportwarning.htm