Airlines and firearms

[Jacob Dryer]

Anyone have any personal experience with flying with checked firearms?



My wife and I are headed to Alaska for vacation and we plan to camp and be off the beaten path for a few days of that, so we are planning to check our pistol or two but have never done it before.



From my understanding, all we need to do is make sure it's unloaded and locked in a secure hard sided case, declare it, and continue about our business.



If you don't like the idea of me taking my pistol I don't care, if you don't like the idea of an adult with a side arm I don't care, all I care about is personal experience with plane travel and bringing a firearm on that trip. (even if it's a rifle or shotgun since it's still practical experience)

 

[Clay Campbell]

My CCW teacher said that is all you need to do. Unloaded, ammo separate, locked in hard case, in checked luggage, and tell them you have it.



Have fun man, be safe!

 

[Jacob Dryer]

From what I've read ammo can actually be in the same locked case, as long as it's in a container that is designed to hold ammo.. like the manufacturers box. It even sounds like some airlines allow loaded clips, as long as they are stored in a bag of some sort.



My plan was to use a pelican hard sided case, clips empty, triggers locks, and ammo in manufactures boxes all inside of the locked pelican case.

 

[Rick Kent]

Have you checked with the airline to confirm all of their and TSA requirements?



You don't want to get their with guns all prepped for travel and you have not "complied" with some regulation and they refuse to allow you to check the guns.

 

[OLE442]

Yeah, I could see a cluster happening with either TSA or the airline. Guys take machine guns to mathces all over the country for subgun matches but I sure don't know the in's and out's myself. You might want to ask on a gun forum for better info.



'07 ST

 

[Robert Thomas]

The attached link is the TSA Regulations



http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm



One of the problems is that each airline seems to have some different regulations. Sometimes the pilot has a say on small planes. Check with you airline also. TSA will inspect the package at check-in.



The only real problem I have had is not with the regulations, its that some airlines want to put a big tag on the container saying "Firearm Enclosed". Like "Steal Me". Don't take your best firearm.



Allow extra time a check-in to allow you to get back to your vehicle if some inspector/clerk says no because of a container or lock.



If you are LE and want/need to carry it on the plane then different regulations apply.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

I've read both the TSA and airline requirements, as far as I know I'll be in full compliance with both.



No one has actually ever done it though? I read through some firearms forums, and that was the first thing to stop me from using my actual gun case, it won't pass TSA requirements, and like stated basically says steal me since it's got the manufacturers name on it.



All the forums make it sound like it's pretty simple and common, but I'm just nervous leaving out of CA with their whole anti gun status..

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Some airlines WILL allow the ammo to be in the same LOCKED box if there is a separate location for said ammo.



That said, most will NOT let ammo be within the same container.



Unless you are Federal Agent and or have an ORIGINAL (not a copy) signed letter from the highest in command at your station stating that there is a reason you NEED to fly armed, you must check the weapon.



Most of you know what I do for a living and I see this type of request almost every day...



More than a few have made it to the plane but then do not have the proper paperwork on them. At that point, if I am the one of the flight, they will not fly unless they check the weapon in the belly of the plane.

 

[Johnny O]

Double check with the airline anyway. I had an incident a few years ago with USA3000 Airlines where my gun was properly checked as per the TSA poster on their ticket counter but that airline's individual policy does not allow weapons period. I have checked my gun on other airlines without a problem. I knew I would lose an argument at the ticket counter and l had enough time to get back to my car but I wasn't happy. ("What poster sir?" "The one in front of my knee right here." "Oh. Well you still can't check a gun.") Coastie checked into it for me and found that officially USA3000 is a charter airline and is allowed to do that and in fact it is in the fine print on their tickets. I did email the Pittsburgh Airport Authority with a complaint that they should make USA3000 take the TSA poster off of their counter but I never received a response.



In my case my gun is in a locked hard container, unloaded, with the ammo in the same box. I haven't had to fly with it in about two years but I never had a problem with it that way. Try to be discreet and professional sounding about it at the ticket counter.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

USA 3000 does NOT allow weapons no matter any other agency or policy with the exception of Federal Agents.



I have flown them about 5 times with my weapon and my credentials with no issues. But you must be Federal or have a specific reason with clearance letters to let you carry it on your person, never belly checked...

 

[Johnny O]

USA3000 only has about four flights a week out of Pittsburgh now and none to anywhere I'd want to go. Possibly they lost too much business from us bitter religious gun-clinging Pennsylvanians. :grin:

 

[Kevin Palmer]

USA 3000 is officially a charter airlines. They fill their own flights up for the most part. They normally travel to vacation type areas. Since they are a charter, they do not follow the "normal" airline rules.

 

[WILL E]

Early January of this year I checked in a firearm on a southwest flight from Phx to Albequrque (spelling -1).



One way ticket as I was heading up to pick up my sport trac I had 'won' on a EBAY auction.



Spingfield XD40.



I bought a special case. It was plastic but had holes for two locks. The guys at the gun shop told me one of the 'requirements' for the case was that you can't pull the firearm out with it locked. Double locking prevented this.



I unloaded the mag, put the ammo in the box that they were purchased in. I put the unloaded firearm, ammo and mag all in the case. I did not yet lock it.



I went to Phoenix airport.



When checking in I delared the firearm. They provided me a form to fill out. The form was for inside the case. Name, address, telephone and stuff like that. No SS number or anything. I might have had to fill out the form twice and leave one with them, I don't remember. I placed the form in the case, double locked it. Put it inside the checked bag. They did the usual tag for destination, I don't think it had any special markings on it.



I was then directed to follow a Southwest employee who took charge of the bag. They carried it to the TSA with me following. Told them what was up. It was X-Rayed and then taken by TSA as any normal bag. At that point I was able to continue on like a normal passenger.



No special screening at the security or gate. It was actually very anti-climatic



At the New Mexico Airport I half expected that I would have to go claim my bag but when I got down to baggage claim it was there waiting for me. No special tape or anything.



I went into the restroom stall, loaded it, put it in my holster (which was also checked). And left.



In AZ and New Mexico firearms are allowed at the airport as long as it isn't past the security checkpoints. I am not sure about other states.



I did read the rules on the Southwest web site. I also had a printed copy of them as well as the url in case I had any problems.



My wife joined me until all was set. Our backout plan was to have her take possession. That way I wouldn't miss my flight if there was a problem.



Plan on taking just a little longer for the checkin and following of the bag.



The Southwest folks were friendly, professional and they had the form right there. They in no way made me feel like I had even inconvienced them, it all seemed very routine.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Thanks a lot Will, that is sort of what I expected. Great info on your experience.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Well we are back from our Alaska trip so here's the update on my experience with travelling with a firearm.



We used a Pelican style laptop case for transport. It locked securely and didn't allow the sides to be pried up like the Springfield Armory factory case did. So I put the SA case inside the pelican case. Both firearms had trigger locks on them (not required). They were put inside the SA case, and then that case put inside of the Pelican. Ammo was in factory boxes, and put inside the Pelican case.



Flight out of LAX, all I did was sign the firearms declaration and put a copy next to the case inside of our larger checked bag. That was the end of it, made it to AK with no problem.



Flying out of Anchorage, I did the same thing. Only this time, I was paged overhead.. It turns out that out of that airport all firearms are supposed to be brought straight over to the oversized baggage area and checked right there before they go "downstairs." So they asked me for my key to inspect it downstairs.. I told them no, I would rather they brought it back up and inspected it in front of me (I wasn't going to give my keys to someone to wander around with and hope I got them back) TSA said thats fine it will just take a little longer, we weren't worried about that as we always leave plenty of time for flights. So they brought the bag up and opened it and the case and we had a little discussion about how it differed from flying out of LAX. Overall it was pretty painless, it would have been even less painless if the counter girl had known that all firearms were supposed to go to oversized baggage, but it was nothing more than a time inconvenience.