Guns at airport checkpoints...

[Beemerguy53]

I read recently that even though airline passenger volume is down, the TSA is finding an increasing number of guns at airport checkpoints.

Most passengers who have guns in their bags apparently don't realize it, an excuse that I find just astonishing. How in the world can you pack for a flight and not know you have a gun in your briefcase, or laptop bag, or purse???

In my state, where it's almost impossible to get a carry permit, having a gun on you is a prima facie violation of the law; if you bring your gun to the airport here you'll be arrested on the spot. And when the law is through with you, TSA will levy a civil penalty ranging from a minimum of $2050 for an unloaded gun to a minimum of $4100 for a loaded gun.

That's a helluva price to pay for not knowing what's in your luggage...

TSA officers detecting more guns at checkpoints in spite of lower passenger throughput | Transportation Security Administration

What Can I Bring? | Transportation Security Administration

 

[duman444]

loaded magazines

Couple of stories.
Before COVID, One of my customers wife's had a loaded magazine in her purse when she was boarding an international flight.

Fine was not large, but she lost all TSA privilege's for a year. Said the TSA agent was going to let her off but the bullets were HP? Like that makes a difference.

Then not 2 months later a coworker is on a week long hunt in Colorado and has to fly back for a day to deal with a issue. Had a loaded Beretta .32 magazine in his carry on - one of the mouse guns that you shoot your friend in the leg with in Bear Country. Wearing all camo-as he had just come out of the field. Did not have HP's - again like that makes a difference and gate agent confiscated and let him through.

So moral of the story, if you are going to forget, then hope you have FMJ's!

 

[Beemerguy53]

Couple of stories.
Before COVID, One of my customers wife's had a loaded magazine in her purse when she was boarding an international flight.

Fine was not large, but she lost all TSA privilege's for a year. Said the TSA agent was going to let her off but the bullets were HP? Like that makes a difference.

Then not 2 months later a coworker is on a week long hunt in Colorado and has to fly back for a day to deal with a issue. Had a loaded Beretta .32 magazine in his carry on - one of the mouse guns that you shoot your friend in the leg with in Bear Country. Wearing all camo-as he had just come out of the field. Did not have HP's - again like that makes a difference and gate agent confiscated and let him through.

So moral of the story, if you are going to forget, then hope you have FMJ's!

There is nothing in TSA regulations differentiating between types of ammunition. All ammunition is prohibited in carry-on bags. All magazines, charged or not, are prohibited in carry-on bags. For that matter, all gun parts are prohibited, including innocuous items like grips, flash suppressors, etc.

You can carry guns, mags, ammo, gun parts, etc., in your checked bag, but you have to have them properly packaged, and you have to declare them to the airline when you check in and turn the bag over to them.

The "TSA privileges" you mention probably refers to her status as a Pre-Check passenger. Yes, if you violate TSA regs and you're Pre-Check you lose that designation...I've known a couple of folks that's happened to.

 

[wheelgun28]

When I got back into guns as an adult one of the better bits of advice I was given was to not use travel bags for guns. So I have my gun bags and separate travel stuff.

I don't have to worry about forgetting something or one odd round that's stuck in some nether region of the bag.

I'd hate to lose my Pre Check and Clear for flying, if we ever fly again...

 

[GaryS]

A friend of mine used to use his range bag as a carry on. One time he got off his 24 hour ambulance shift, went home, threw some stuff in the bag and headed off to the airport.

TSA grabbed him because he had neglected to remove a hand gun and a couple of magazines.

Fortunately, he lives in a firearms friendly state and happened to know the deputy working at the small airport he was flying out of.

He wasn't arrested, didn't have his gun confiscated, but couldn't fly that day. As he was heading to a conference he had to rent a car and drive about 12 hours to get there so he could do his presentations.

The deputy also called him a dumb ***, of course.

Then he got the letter from the TSA. He called and was able to negotiate the price down and pay in installments.

Rifle scopes are supposed to be okay in carry on bags, but I've heard of them being confiscated. The language of the TSA regulation includes magazines, clips, bolts, and firing pins. Includes is the key word because it can be any part that the TSA agent decides is forbidden. So, one time you may be able to carry those expensive grips in your carry on, but the next time they will be confiscated.

BTW, I picked up a nice 6906 magazine at the Texas State Surplus Store in Austin a couple of years ago. In addition to state, county, and city surplus, they have several bins of TSA confiscated stuff. Tools, knives, multi tools, and one bin just full of confiscated magazines. No ammunition though.

Last Thanksgiving when my wife and i were flying to Austin to spend the holiday with our daughter a woman behind us in line at Logan Airport was shocked when the TSA confiscated a very nice set of carving knives from her carry on! She could not comprehend why she couldn't take them with her.

You can't make that story up.

The most I ever had confiscated was a cheap lighter in my carry on left over from a road trip a few weeks before I flew. It made it through security on the outbound trip, but those eagle eyed agents in Mobile, AL found it.

 

[ZGrand]

A friend of mine flew out of state to visit his mother. While there, his mother handed him a revolver that had been her husband's, saying she no longer wanted it in the house. He took it and put it in his suitcase for the time being. When it came time to go back home, he forgot the gun was in his suitcase until it showed up on TSA x-rays. Fortunately, this happened about 12 years ago, so the gun was confiscated but he did not get into trouble about it.

 

[Willyboy]

Guns in baggage

On a related note, a coworker grabbed the wrong briefcase for work
and when he opened it up to get his lunch his 45 was in there. Luckily
no one else saw it. Willyboy

 

[Bob L]

A number of years ago, I was headed from Detroit to Atlanta for work. I had a tool bag that I was hand carrying with the tools I needed when I got to the plant. Going through security, they asked what I had in the bag and I mentioned some wrenches and a glue gun. Bad choice of words. It took some talking but they finally allowed me through and I made my flight. After that, it became a hot melt adhesive applicator and never had it questioned again.

 

[Texas Star]

I know a Chicago nurse who went to London with a tiny pink Swiss Army knife in her purse.

Security missed it in both New York and in London. She was very lucky.

This was about two years ago.

 

[hsguy]

Interesting stories! I had a friend who worked for a major airline and also owned a gun shop. In the early pre-TSA security time private security firms were manning the checkpoints. My friend was on duty as the airline supervisor in charge one weekend and received a call that one of his pilots tried to take a gun through security and was going to be arrested.

He managed to to contact the security contractor involved and ascertained that they were paid a bonus by their company for each offender identified. He inquired as to the amount of the bonus and asked the agent if he was given the amount involved would he let the pilot go to secure his gun in flight operations and then proceed to fly his assignment. He agreed and my friend called the airline service center at the airport and told them to take the cash out of their register and pay the agent. He then talked with the pilot, who as it turns out, had gone to the range earlier in the day and then put his gun in his flight bag and forget it was there, he also told the pilot to go and replace the cash in the service center till, it all worked out.

My wife worked as a flight attendant for the same airline and enjoyed doing cross stitch on her long layovers. She had a tiny pair of folding scissors in her bag and they were confiscated by security. She was mad as could be and I spent a few minutes talking her down after she called me from her layover hotel. I have a couple of other stories but will save them for another time.

 

[Stevens]

Bad luck would be for a forgotten gun to be missed by TSA in Miami but found on landing in Caracas, Venezuela. Pretty much that would guarantee a stay in a Caracas Jail!
Steve W

 

[Golddollar]

I was getting ready to get on a plane at Baltimore. I was still in the parking lot and for some reason I decided to check myself one more time for anything I thought would be a problem. Darn if when I patted down my vest there was an empty .38 Special case in it. Don't ask me how it got there, but it ended up in the trunk of my car and I made the trip without any problems.

 

[Beemerguy53]

Interesting stories indeed.

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, you couldn't take even a pair of nail clippers through airport security...tools of any kind were prohibited. That was relaxed, then the ban on cigarette lighters was lifted, except for torch lighters, which are still prohibited because they emit a concentrated flame.

Empty shell casings are not prohibited, nor are nail files, or multi-tools, so long as they don't have a knife.

The Pre-Check program is great...basically pre-9/11 security if you're a trusted traveler.

 

[steelslaver]

Not long after 911 a co worker and some of his friends flew to Southeast AK and went out fishing, Salmon and Halibut. Had problems with seals and were provided with seal bombs, which are about like M80s. They fish till the last minute then hustle to the airport. Larry, hard a ccouple seal bombs in his pocket. If he would have been anywhere but, Sitka, Alaska he would probably still be in jail. But, there it was not an uncommon occurrence and sort of reasonable that it happens. They let him catch his flight. About a month latter, he got a letter saying no charges would be pressed, but it better never happen again. He said his buddies didn't hang around when the seal bomb was found.

 

[Justin T]

I don’t have enough guns to forget where they are. But, I will say I dropped a gun into a briefcase on the way in from the car once. One of those absent-minded things we do when hands are full, etc. i didn’t remember what I’d done until preparing the briefcase for work several hours later.

I can understand how it happens, but also understand it doesn’t have to be like that.

 

[Golddollar]

Interesting stories indeed.

Empty shell casings are not prohibited, nor are nail files, or multi-tools, so long as they don't have a knife.

I don't dispute what is said here, but I don't want to get into a situation where I have to try to explain that what I had was basically a piece of brass tubing and not anything that was in a condition to shoot.

 

[GaryS]

I don't recall ever seeing a multi tool without a knife blade. Maybe they exist, but I have about five Leatherman tools (from our uniform allotment at work) floating around between my house and truck and everyone of them has a knife blade. A couple of saw blades. All of them have screw drivers and TSA won't let those through either.

The biggest problem is that there is no consistency between any two airports. The TSA is supposed to have one set of rules at all airports, but they don't.

None torch lighters are okay, unless they aren't. What a torch lighter is is completely up to the discretion of the TSA officer that is checking your carry on.

They aren't supposed to let people into the secure area to open a locked box with a firearm arm, but I've been allowed to do that several times at different airports.

You are not supposed to surrender the key to a locked box without being able to keep it in your sight during their inspection, but I've had to do that several times. They have in fact changed that part of the regulation at least three times that I'm aware of.

They can't even decide if the "orange card" should go inside or outside a locked box that is inside a suitcase.

Each time, they will tell you that they do it right and all of the other airports do it wrong.

There is also no redress as the supervisor will back up the TSA officer even if you show them the written regulations.

Interesting stories indeed.

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, you couldn't take even a pair of nail clippers through airport security...tools of any kind were prohibited. That was relaxed, then the ban on cigarette lighters was lifted, except for torch lighters, which are still prohibited because they emit a concentrated flame.

Empty shell casings are not prohibited, nor are nail files, or multi-tools, so long as they don't have a knife.

The Pre-Check program is great...basically pre-9/11 security if you're a trusted traveler.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I don't dispute what is said here, but I don't want to get into a situation where I have to try to explain that what I had was basically a piece of brass tubing and not anything that was in a condition to shoot.

I understand, but if you go back to the list I posted of what's prohibited, shell casings aren't on it. Also, there is a blog in TSA's website where I'm sure this has been discussed. But you're right: The safest thing to do is put anything that might delay you into your checked bag.

I can't speak for every airport and/or situation, but I have an old friend who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and his wife was able to bring the fired blanks from his funeral through security in Baltimore with no problem.

Edited to add this link:

Shell Casings | Transportation Security Administration.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I don't recall ever seeing a multi tool without a knife blade. Maybe they exist, but I have about five Leatherman tools (from our uniform allotment at work) floating around between my house and truck and everyone of them has a knife blade. A couple of saw blades. All of them have screw drivers and TSA won't let those through either.

The biggest problem is that there is no consistency between any two airports. The TSA is supposed to have one set of rules at all airports, but they don't.

None torch lighters are okay, unless they aren't. What a torch lighter is is completely up to the discretion of the TSA officer that is checking your carry on.

They aren't supposed to let people into the secure area to open a locked box with a firearm arm, but I've been allowed to do that several times at different airports.

You are not supposed to surrender the key to a locked box without being able to keep it in your sight during their inspection, but I've had to do that several times. They have in fact changed that part of the regulation at least three times that I'm aware of.

They can't even decide if the "orange card" should go inside or outside a locked box that is inside a suitcase.

Each time, they will tell you that they do it right and all of the other airports do it wrong.

There is also no redress as the supervisor will back up the TSA officer even if you show them the written regulations.

Hmmm...Respectfully, I'm not sure where you get your information about what the TSA permits, but it isn't from the TSA.

Screwdrivers under 7 inches in length are permitted. (Link below)

The term "torch lighter" is clearly defined. Your Bic or Zippo is okay, your cigar lighter is not. (Link below)

I fly fairly often...(or at least I used to, before Covid!). There are a number of multi-tools available that comply with TSA regulations. Below is a link I found through a Google search for "airport friendly multi tools". And Leatherman -- link also below -- lists 17 various tools that meet TSA restrictions.

I carry a Leatherman Style PS when I fly, and when I divest to go through security, I place it in one of those dog bowls by itself, and open it up so the TSA officers can inspect it. (If I left it in my bag, I'd have to spend more time at the checkpoint.) Yeah, they need to look at it and verify that it doesn't have a blade, but once they do that, they hand it right back to me every time. I have taken that tool through airport security hundreds of times over the years with no problem ever.

I've never flown with a firearm in my checked bag, so I can't speak to that part of your post. Yes, things are supposed to be done uniformly...but with hundreds of airports and thousands of TSA officers across the US, there's bound to be inconsistency occasionally. If you think somebody made a bad call, or did something wrong, and you get no satisfaction from a Supervisor on the scene, go to their website -- or better yet, your Congressman -- and file a complaint.

Happy flying...

Screwdrivers (shorter than 7 inches) | Transportation Security Administration

Torch Lighters | Transportation Security Administration

The Best TSA-Friendly Multi-Tools in 2020 | Everyday Carry

Travel-friendly Multi-Tools | Leatherman

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I also fly for a living, and have to chat with TSA frequently regarding large bags of thumb drives (for students - I teach courses overseas) and bags of AA batteries (for laser pointers that always wear out where there are no batteries), flashlights, head-lamps, etc. I also have a first aid kit, over-the-counter med kit, etc. in the bag, with lots of other cords, rechargers, and kits of all type in the pockets.

It really pays to use a basic checklist and go through your carry-on before each trip. Like pilots use before each flight. If you know they're already going to upack and comb through your carry-on anyway it isn't any real issue to start preparing for the process a few days before each trip.

Saves an unbelieveable amount of heartache and unexpected irritation.

Just MHO. YMMV.