Flying with Firearms

bob9

bob9

New member
Heading to Texas the first week in March with a buddy to meet up with a freind we both grew up with to do some hog and coyote hunting for a week. Never flew with firearms before, I have been checking websites for info, but I thought I would ask some real hunters for advise.

Firearms going 2 Ar-15's
ammo approx 100 rounds
Ar's will be in Pelican cases

Thanks for your advise

Bob
 
Not sure, but think it's also no ammo in the gun case at all. You can put ammo in checked baggage. My case had two latches and four locations for padlocks and I used four locks! Plan on extra time to go through the process. Depends on the airport you are using, but the TSA process varys from "ok, it's in a locked case" (Aniak AK) to a TSA guy wearing rubber gloves opening every other case and putting all of them through a machine that looked like an MRI machine!! (DIA at Denver). Denver took an additional 45 minutes to get our bags checked because of the TSA process.
 
OK...Already some misinformation here. I've flown all over North America and to Africa 5 times with Firearms.

RULE #1 - NO TSA LOCKS. Firearms are the only thing that you are NOT supposed to use TSA locks on as after initial inspection, you are supposed to be the only one able to access the firearm. You MAY get by with TSA locks, but I've seen plenty of guys miss flights frantically searching the airport for non TSA locks when they wouldn't let them on the plane with TSA locks. Every once in awhile you will get a ticket agent that doesn't have a clue and ask where your TSA locks are. At that point ask for a supervisor and he will set the ticket agent straight.

Go to the TSA website and the airlines website you are flying on and print off the sections on flying with guns...Know the rules and take them with you.

In well over a 100 trips flying with firearms, here's what I do:

Two Padlocks on gun case. Trigger lock on gun. Bolt out. Ammo in checked baggage in ORIGINAL packaging. I also carry with me in my carry on an extra set of keys for everything and an extra set of TSA Padlocks and a regular set of padlocks. When you get to the airport, the ticket agent will ask you to open the case and put a signed form in the case stating the gun is not loaded. I will then ask if TSA is going to inspect. Some airports they do, some they don't. Don't leave the ticket counter until you find out either way. If they are going to inspect, you will need to open the case. I've also seen guys guns not make the flight because TSA couldn't get into their case to inspect because they headed to the gate.

Flying with them is a piece of cake if you follow the rules. Good Luck...Have fun.
 
Check your airlines regs. Federal law does not ban ammo in the smae case as the gun & I've flown that way many times.

Here's one time I flew to the PM hunt:



That case contains a shotgun, a rifle, a holstered glock, 2 shooting sticks, rifle ammo, buckshot, pistol ammo & 3 knives.

Individual airlines may set their own regs that don't permit it. Find the regs for your airline, make sure you're in compliance with them. Then print out a copy & have that copy on your person in case of any dispute.

Used to be you'd check your guns in at the ticket counter, now you take them directly to the TSA, so the individual airline regs may matter less than they used to.

And gun cases are the one thing that does not require a TSA compliant lock. You will unlock the cases for an agent to inspect & then you will close & lock the case. My gun case locks are not TSA compliant, I have the only keys to them & it was not a problem. My suitcase did have a compliant lock & on each flight I found that they had been opened, though nothing taken.


 
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Well I flew to NM last year for the PM hunt

I also read no tsa locks
Guess what, on the way there and back they cut my non-tsa locks and put their own locks back on, two different airlines
My rifles went to Montana instead of New Mexico
They didn't have a key for the lock they replaced mine with
Bobtails and I had to hunt down a TSA employee and get a pair of bolt cutters to cut off their locks
I will use TSA locks from now own

I flew with 100 rounds of ammo in the case with the weapons
 
I've flown atleast 1/2 dozen times with rifles. Never has the ammo been in the case with the rifle. I always use my own lock and I wait and watch as they do inspection and swab down the inside and outside. Once done they have me watch them lock it back up an off I go. My rifles have never been in a traditional gun case however.
 
I opened mine in front of TSA before I took off, both coming an going
Both times my locks were cut and theirs installed after they left my posession
 
Originally Posted By: archer_204OK...Already some misinformation here. I've flown all over North America and to Africa 5 times with Firearms.

RULE #1 - NO TSA LOCKS. Firearms are the only thing that you are NOT supposed to use TSA locks on as after initial inspection, you are supposed to be the only one able to access the firearm. You MAY get by with TSA locks, but I've seen plenty of guys miss flights frantically searching the airport for non TSA locks when they wouldn't let them on the plane with TSA locks. Every once in awhile you will get a ticket agent that doesn't have a clue and ask where your TSA locks are. At that point ask for a supervisor and he will set the ticket agent straight.

Salt Lake City was the only airport that I personally have flown into that checked my rifle case in front of me. The rest have just taken it and slid it on the belt to take it away.

That is strange because every time I flew with my rifles they questioned my non TSA locks and asked me to hang around the check in counter in case there was a problem with the TSA people wanting to look in my case.
Just last year I was paged over the PA speaker at the airport to report to the airline counter. They had already cut two locks off to access one side of my case. They wanted a key to open the other side so they could at least leave me one lock per side.
 
you may want to have a set of TSA compliant lock with you & when checking them in, ask. If they want you to use them just swap them out.
 
Here is an interesting tidbit I found.....

Use a NON-TSA approved lock. While many will tell you to use a TSA approved lock, this is actually prohibited by 49CFR 1540.111, the regulation that governs firearm transportation. It should be noted that the TSA usually allows the use of TSA locks but in reality they are not legal as they are designed to be opened by a TSA master key, which is expressly prohibited by the above regulation. The TSA will ask you to unlock the case or provide them a key (do not give them the combination if a combination lock is used), then they will visually inspect the packing of your gun, after which they will either have you re-lock your case or they will re-lock it and return your key. TSA agents are not trained or allowed to handle firearm, so no contact should me made in that manner. If an agent feels the firearm requires in-depth inspection, they must have a law enforcement officer come over to perform that function. If re-inspection is deemed necessary after the bag is checked, they will locate the owner and have them open the case again, so it is wise to remain in the area or on the aircraft after checking the firearm. Buy the best non-TSA locks you can find.
 
I used 3 of my own padlocks on my case last March without an issue. Ammo can be in the case, but it has to be in the manufacturer's box or in a "secure" box; I used a Plano ammunition box.

Definitely check your airline's website and it will have instructions on transporting firearms and links to the TSA's Rules of the Week.
 
Originally Posted By: Stu Farishyou may want to have a set of TSA compliant lock with you & when checking them in, ask. If they want you to use them just swap them out.


Totally agree and in addition I'd carry multiple sets of both TSA and non-TSA locks so that you are prepared in case some locks are cut off.

The central problem with the TSA is that they are poorly trained and lack any comprehensive understanding of their own rules. As evidenced above by people reporting having locks cut off.

Cutting those locks off within a security zone is actually a Federal crime unless they had authorization, but it just shows that the TSA employees don't understand their own rules. Even to the point where they are potentially committing crimes and CREATING potential security issues.

I shudder to think how many airport employees have, by hook or crook, got hold of a set of TSA lock master keys.

Grouse
 
Originally Posted By: Tim NeitzkeI believe it's certain TSA over stepping their bounds. Once a rifle is properly checked ,they have ZERO reason to open it again. NONE !

That's absolutely correct.
 
Thanks for all the info guys....starting to think I want to drive there...LOL It sounds like the main issue is the locks. Like most of you have found out, I am going to take both TSA and non-TSA locks, get there early, and hope my guns don't end up Montana, but I would not mine going there either. LOL
 


I ship my guns and ammo to a local gun shop. Where, I am hunting. Then, ship them home.

I do not worry and I do not have carry them in airports and deal with TSA.
 
Originally Posted By: willy1947

I ship my guns and ammo to a local gun shop. Where, I am hunting. Then, ship them home.

I do not worry and I do not have carry them in airports and deal with TSA.



This could be a better option. In fact, you don't even have to ship them to a shop. Just ship them to yourself at your destination. You can ship them to a local in care of yourself, or perhaps your hotel would receive a package for you. The trick is that legally, only you can open shipped rifles. The person you ship to cannot open the package on your behalf, only receive it and hold it for you.

I hate to say it, but I think I'd trust UPS more than the TSA and your airline's baggage handlers.
 
How did it go for you Bob? I used this thread for info, just flew home from Baltimore with a Win 94 I was given. I thought mailing would be easier but every UPS location I called had to ask two or three times what I was shipping and then acted like I was crazy.
Flying Southwest turned out to be simple, the lady who checked my bags didn't even bat an eye; I signed the notice that the firearm was unloaded, etc, and she put it in the case right there at the counter and away we went. I used my own padlocks, no TSA locks, and it was waiting for me at the baggage claim service desk. This was a non-stop flight so pretty hard to send the case to the wrong state.
 
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