Checked Baggage/Handgun/Transiting Airport

[Onomea]

I'm flying to the East Coast in a few days and transiting the Atlanta airport. Switching planes. I'm considering whether to take my EDC or not.

Ditto in reverse when I return a few days later.

To date, I've only taken a gun with me on direct flights.

Anybody ever lose a gun this way? In transit? Do airlines take any extra care with bags with guns inside? (I'm assuming they do not as other than the tag inside the locked gun case, there's nothing in or on the bag to indicate there's a gun inside.) I know Atlanta has a rep for crime. Is the airport there also more of a problem with theft than airports elsewhere?

Experiences or opinions?

 

[Baxter6551]

Check TSA regulations for transporting. Also google the specific airlines policy. There is no requirement for the outside of bag to be tagged. Once TSA X-rays it there should be no one at airline handling knowing there is a firearm inside. I flew for work and transported many times. Never an issue except at JFK NY with PAPD thinking I needed to have a NYC pistol permit (I didn’t). Never put tag on outside. Once cleared at check in counter put the bright orange “firearm unloaded” tag inside the bag.

 

[tlawler]

I’ve had plane changes with no issues. I use a small Pelican Vault inside my larger checked bag. I figure they would be less likely to misplace my main bag than a smaller gun case. I also glued an airtag inside the Pelican under the foam…peace of mind.

 

[Onomea]

I like that airtag idea.

 

[cougar015]

I've flown many times over the years with both Hand guns and long rifles in my checked luggage and never put anything on the outside to indicate their is a weapon inside. I lock them up with a TSA lock so they can open to inspect if needed. I have never lost a gun even with layovers and plane changes. Fingers crossed.

 

[Onomea]

... I have never lost a gun even with layovers and plane changes. Fingers crossed.

That's what I'm hoping to hear!

 

[madmikeb]

I've flown through Atlanta with my EDC many times, never had an issue. I do the same as tlawler, locked pelican case inside my suitcase. At the end of your flight you will have to pick the bag up at baggage claim and show id. They won't put it on the conveyor. At least Delta doesn't.

 

[Onomea]

That's interesting about picking the bag up at baggage claim and showing ID, not just grabbing it off the carousel. That means someone is paying attention. I like that procedure. Sounds safer.

 

[ImDrRich]

Re: Airtags: I have one in every gun case (yes, I have a lot of them).

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I’ve had plane changes with no issues. I use a small Pelican Vault inside my larger checked bag. I figure they would be less likely to misplace my main bag than a smaller gun case. I also glued an airtag inside the Pelican under the foam…peace of mind.

Okay, what's an airtag?

=============

More importantly, one must remember that the actual rule requires a hard, locked case for your firearm. I used to use hard-sided luggage that locked, and it was always approved. Sometime after the rule was well known airlines started letting the hard, locked case be placed inside any other luggage, including soft-sided luggage. It's a weird misunderstanding/misinterpretation of the rule in my opinion but it seems to work so why should I complain?

Either way, I have never lost a firearm on an airplane.

One caveat - the FOPA requires that the gun is legal for you to possess from the embarkation airport to the destination airport. Transfers of luggage from plane to plane accomplishes that. BUT - if your flight switch causes you to have to retrieve your luggage and then recheck it you better be legal in that one-stop airport, the state that you're traveling through has to allow you to have the weapon. If it doesn't you will probably get arrested when you try to check it.

Atlanta, GA as a pass-through stop is probably okay but certain other states, NY, NJ, CA, CT, MA come to mind. You won't be legal there and risk of arrest is high if you have to retrieve your luggage.

Let's be careful out there...............

 

[Onomea]

An airtag is a little $28 gizmo made by Apple about the size and shape of two quarters stacked which uses blue tooth and nearby iPhones to show you on a map on your iPhone where it is.

Good for tracking stuff.

 

[GerSan69]

I was an airport cop for 17 years, had plenty of calls on guns in luggage because not everyone follows the rules.
Had a few calls on guns stolen from bags, too.

Here's what I suggest:
Be sure your gun is unloaded. Chamber clear, no ammo in a magazine, ammo in a factory or plastic MTM-style box. Be sure you do not have any loose ammo anywhere in the bag or in your carry-on stuff. They may not charge you, but it will delay you for a few minutes extra while they go through your stuff with a fine tooth comb.

Use one of those book-size metal gun cases. Most come with a cable. Lock your gun with a small padlock to one end of the cable and loop the other around something that's part of your suitcase - all of the bags I use have a telescoping handle that can be accessed inside, so I loop the other end around one leg of it.

The idea is this: most baggage thefts are a crime of opportunity. Bag runners know where the blind spots are, where cameras don't see. The thieves will stop or park in one of these places and remove small things that they can hide until the shift is over, and since they don't go thru a magnetometer on their way out (only on their way in,) they can easily put your small gun case in a lunchbox, backpack, etc.

If your gun case is tied to your bag as described, and the suitcase itself is locked, they normally won't bother because they are looking for the easy theft. This is especially good for connecting flights - those bag runners can have a lot more time to go thru multiple bags, and some do.Where I worked (DEN) the bags were run through tunnels with several blind spots in each, and we did have bag thefts that ran in spurts. If a guy gets away with one, he'll likely do another and another, until he gets caught. There's a second place where it's vulnerable and I'll get to that.

Airlines vary, but they all have you fill out a gun tag that stays in your suitcase or gun case - they'll tell you which. They usually ask to see the gun. They will have a person to take your bag to TSA oversize bag xray. TSA will open your bag and will ask for your box key to do their inspection. After they're done, they will either lock your bag or have you do it. Then the airline guy (or a skycap in some places) will take the bag down to baggage loading.

This is that other place it is vulnerable to theft - if the airline or skycap is unscrupulous, he might signal another guy in baggage that you have a gun. They'll wait for the bag to pass the TSA baggage system and take it to one of those off-camera places I mentioned earlier. Don't think this will never happen to you.... organized theft rings composed of either airline or even TSA employees have been caught at several airports across the country.

Anyway, I hope this helps the folks on the Forum. Travel with a gun isn't impossible, it just takes patience and common sense.

 

[GerSan69]

One more thing:
Do NOT have a gun in checked luggage if you travel through any New York airport or Newark. If you tell the ticket agent that you want to check a gun, they will call the Port Authority cops and you will be arrested. The laws in both states are extremely tough, and they have no exceptions including retired officers! (an active law enforcement person is usually exempt. NYC and NJ are very kind and helpful to traveling cops. I remember that PAPD at one time had officers assigned to the airports just to assist traveling police. They may still.)

 

[colt_saa]

I have been flying with firearms since the 90s.

Usually 6 destinations or so each year (until 2018) so that is 12 flights anually

I use a hard sided Samsonite Pullman that has one combo and two key locks. Firearm in zipper pouch inside with ammunition in Factory boxes. That suitcase was REALLY Expensive in the 90s, but it has lasted 30+ years so far

ALWAYS fill out the affidavit at the ticket counter

Since 9-11 I wait at the security checkpoint for 15 minutes or so to see if TSA pages me for my key. If TSA wants to look in the case after X-ray they are required to get my key.

There are a few airports where you take the luggage to a TSA baggage station and they check it while you are there. But that is the exception, not the rule. I think I have done that three times since the TSA was created.

Never lost anything.

Can you lose something.....Sure, but if you knew when and where you were going to be robbed, you would not go there

You put your seat belt on because you can not predict an accident. Well you can't predict crime either otherwise Cops would have an easy job

 

[GerSan69]

There are a few airports where you take the luggage to a TSA baggage station and they check it while you are there. But that is the exception, not the rule. I think I have done that three times since the TSA was created.
Never lost anything.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time that TSA didn't follow their so-called "stringent guidelines." I'll give them one thing, though: they will always find that lone .22LR bullet stuck in a crevice in the bottom of your bag, and they won't stop looking for more until your underwear and everything else is stacked on the table for all to see.

I've stayed with the bag as it went to the TSA room at Denver, Phoenix, and Boise, all with Southwest. I've never had an issue, either.

But that's your government at work. I spent my last 16 months on the job working at screening checkpoints 8 hours per day, 5 days a week. (I asked a favor from my Captain, who i'd known for over 30 years. I wanted to do it as a way of "easing" into retirement.) Let me tell ya, it was an eye opener. The traveling public is a mess. They are generally stressed out and a few of them boil over. But unlike on the street, where the thugs make like they're ignoring you, folks tend to settle right down when a cop shows up.

Anyway, glad your travels go well. Stay safe.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I've stayed with the bag as it went to the TSA room at Denver, Phoenix, and Boise, all with Southwest. I've never had an issue, either.

I have done that, also, at different airports and with American Airlines. I've never had a problem.

One time, in Fort Lauderdale, something was amiss, I can't recall what it was, and they were taking everyone's luggage en masse and I said to the handler I needed to declare a firearm and he said "don't worry about it" and WHISK! - my suitcase was on the conveyor and gone. No problem. I was very surprised and the memory still makes me shake my head in wonderment....

I use a hard sided Samsonite Pullman that has one combo and two key locks. Firearm in zipper pouch inside with ammunition in Factory boxes

.

That's exactly what I used to do with a locking, hard-sided Delsey suitcase. That suitcase was like armor and TSA always said I used it correctly. Sadly, it burned up in my 2018 fire.

Since the loss of the Delsey I've been using a high quality, soft-sided suitcase and the few times I checked a firearm since 2018 I used a TSA approved, hard-sided case just for the gun and shipped is separately (yes, I had to pay a fee for a second piece of baggage). To my eyes the little case SCREAMS G U N!!! but it always makes it safely. One time a ticket agent told me I could put it inside my soft case but I said no because I literally "lock" the zippers with zip ties and I didn't have an extra in my pocket so I figured it was a waste of time to have them cut the zip tie, insert the case into the larger case (it would have fit) and there it goes in an un-zip tied soft piece of luggage.

ALWAYS fill out the affidavit at the ticket counter

I've never seen any kind of affidavit so maybe that's new but it is a requirement to declare your firearms and complete the tag that they put inside your luggage with the gun. The FOPA includes that and you cannot check a firearm in luggage without completing a form if they have one but for sure the little tag that accompanies your gun.

One more thing:
Do NOT have a gun in checked luggage if you travel through any New York airport or Newark. If you tell the ticket agent that you want to check a gun, they will call the Port Authority cops and you will be arrested. The laws in both states are extremely tough, and they have no exceptions

That was my earlier point. With firearms, non-stop flights are the only way to go, actually, but if you do have to make a stop in NY/NJ you better hope that your luggage is not removed from the plane for re-checking for the next flight. If that should happen your best course of action is to check the bags WITHOUT mentioning the firearm. It's risky and the TSA x-ray technicians might spot it and pull it but, then again, they might not. I shudder to think about this problem.......

 

[Erich]

Have a good trip (if you'll be in Miami next week, I'll buy you a daiquiri)!

I've been flying with guns since the '80s and fly with them about ten times a year these days. I frequently have to change planes - the luggage handlers get it to the next plane almost all the time. Never had a theft to date. I've had luggage seriously delayed at least three times (stuff happens), but it always arrived.

For anyone interested: I take a large hard suitcase in an unusual color. Safe cabled to the suitcase frame. The idea is to make it too inconvenient to steal quickly and without notice.

 

[HardToHandle]

I have flown frequently as well, 3-4x annually. Normally it is a simple process, but occasionally becomes a bit more complicated.
All good advice above.

Additional observations:
1) “Just because the last airport handled it that way…” Expect inconsistencies. Even inside the same airport. Even the same airline. I keep a copy of the internet TSA and airline procedures with me, but have generally just went with the flow.

2) Build in extra time. I add +60 minutes to handle rigmarole that may develop. It is easier to be chill when you and the airport staff have plenty of time.

3) The right case. I have a bright Orange Pelican case that goes inside the checked bag. It has my business card taped on the outside and I also zip tie in addition to a lock as a tamper indicator. The Orange case is large enough and bright enough to hopefully discourage theft, but I have added glint and glow tape to be even more noticeable.

4) Delta. I intensely dislike Delta for many good reasons, but they insist on sealing up guns with ridiculous amounts of tape (after a Florida Man incident). Their approach increases the internal theft risk and is a huge pain upon arrival - so I carry EMT shears in the same checked bag if I fly Delta.

 

[Onomea]

Got the airtag and put it in the hard-sided case with my handgun. Put the hard-sided case into a soft-sided suitcase. Checked it in. Transited Atlanta and upon arrival in Savannah went to the Delta baggage claim office next to the luggage carousel as directed. Woman there checked my ID, checked her computer, and told me to wait.

There was a metal shuttered opening in the wall which would open when specialty items arrived. Saw a guy get his aluminum rifle case there. The attendant woman zip tied it all up.

I asked the woman to let me retrieve my pocketknife from the outer pocket before she zip-tied my bag. (The zip ties she was using were several feet long and designed to go around the bag. She asked me to describe my bag, and said she's just zip tie the main compartment zippers together with a smaller zip tie.

While I was waiting, my wife saw our bag arrive on the carousel with all the other passengers' bags and grabbed it. The woman from the baggage counter came over and zip tied the main space zippers together. I retrieved my pocket knife from the outer zipped pocket and, while waiting for a taxi, cut the zip tie off.

Last time I did this was a few years back, UA, Honolulu to Portland, and was told to just pick up my bag on the carousel with all the others upon arrival, which I did.

I guess the lesson here is be prepared for the airlines to deviate from what they tell you to expect.

 

[Mainsail]

Another suggestion to use a locking box with cable around the inside frame of the suitcase.

Earlier this month I landed at SeaTac with two pistols in the lock box and had to pick it up from an agent who put a zip-tie around the zippers which I immediately tore off because I wanted to make sure the box was still inside.

BUT, that gave me an idea to bring a zip-tie and lock the zippers together, providing an extra layer of frustration to any potential thieves.