utbagpiper
Banned
imported post
Just a report on a recent trip I took on Delta that took me from SLC to Dulles (IAD) in the Northern Virginia / DC area.
I did not carry into either airport (though I have done so in SLC in the past). I had the gun unloaded, inside a hard case in my luggage, with fully charged mags top down in a standard nylon belt holder inside the hard sided case next to the firearm (and my Gerber multi-tool that is no longer allowed inside the cabin).
No problems whatsoever on either end. The Delta agents never bat an eye and the TSA is quite good at both airports as well, though the exact procedure varies.
When checking the bag, simply tell the agent you need to declare a firearm. Once in a while an agent will ask to make sure it is the checked bag rather than something I might be authorized to carry on-board (way different paperwork for cops carrying on-board I'd expect).
In SLC the Delta agent will have you sign the orange tag and put it into your gun case. (Don't bother locking the case yet.) Then she walks you down to the TSA counter where an agent will open your bag and gun case and do a physical inspection and wipe down for their chemical sniffer. So don't bother to lock the case or suitcase until AFTER you are done with TSA in SLC.
Once TSA does their wipe down, they or you will lock the gun case and bag (sometimes the agent asks you for your locks while you watch him, sometimes he asks you to just lock it while he watches you) and off it goes for regular baggage handling. I always use real (non-TSA locks) on both my gun case and outside my luggage. Once TSA inspects it once, they should not need to open the case again. I do take a couple extra locks with just in case, but have never had one cut off if I have a declared gun in the case. I also have a combo bike cable lock that I loop around the handle of the gun case and then through the interior frame of my roller board just so the gun case can't easily fall out of an open suitcase should it "accidentally" be opened.
There is sometimes a few minutes' wait in SLC for the TSA to come out and actually inspect your bag. On this trip, someone else was already there having a gun case with two AR style rifles being inspected so the wait was a bit less.
Without exception I can say that checking a gun on Delta in SLC has never added more than about 10 minutes to my check in time compared to checking a bag without a gun. (It does of course add a few minutes compared to not checking a bag and adds the time on the arrival end waiting to claim your bag. But with all the restrictions on liquids and gels these days, I'd just as soon check a bag for anything more than 1 or 2 nights anyway.) On at least one occasion, checking a gun meant that my bag arrived with me while the bags of others traveling with me did not due to some baggage handling issues.
In Dulles the procedure is a bit different as the TSA still has their x-ray machines out near the check in counter. At Dulles, after declaring the gun to the Delta agent and signing the card and putting it inside the gun case, you lock everything up at the counter and then walk down to the TSA station. Sometimes the Delta agent comes with you, sometimes not. You tell the TSA there is a declared firearm and he has you wait about 2 minutes while they run your bag through the x-ray machine (usually bumping it to the head of the line of any waiting bags). They wave you on and your bag is sent on for regular baggage handling.
Reagan National is very similar to Dulles in this regard and in both cases checking a gun typically adds only 5 to 10 minutes over checking a bag without a gun.
I've never had any king of issue in any of these three airports as far as checking a gun. Nor have I have ever had any problem with my luggage that has a checked gun in it, other than the long (~ one hour) wait in Dulles for all checked baggage to arrive for pickup.
The closest I ever came to an issue was flying out of SLC with a Scottish basket hilt sword packed in a shot gun case. The agent wasn't quit sure what to do, but figured I'd better sign the gun tag since it looked like a gun case. Signing under penalty of perjury, I modified the card language to swear that the "sword" was not loaded and was on my way. ;-)
I've never attempted to fly out of an airport in an RKBA unfriendly area and have never relied upon federal safe journey laws. And I don't have a lot of experience on airlines other than Delta.
But I can say that on Delta, to gun friendly locations (SLC, St. George, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Arizona) that I've never had a moments problem with a declared firearm in my checked luggage.
So don't let the fact that you are flying dissuade you from being properly armed while visiting an RKBA friendly location.
Charles
Just a report on a recent trip I took on Delta that took me from SLC to Dulles (IAD) in the Northern Virginia / DC area.
I did not carry into either airport (though I have done so in SLC in the past). I had the gun unloaded, inside a hard case in my luggage, with fully charged mags top down in a standard nylon belt holder inside the hard sided case next to the firearm (and my Gerber multi-tool that is no longer allowed inside the cabin).
No problems whatsoever on either end. The Delta agents never bat an eye and the TSA is quite good at both airports as well, though the exact procedure varies.
When checking the bag, simply tell the agent you need to declare a firearm. Once in a while an agent will ask to make sure it is the checked bag rather than something I might be authorized to carry on-board (way different paperwork for cops carrying on-board I'd expect).
In SLC the Delta agent will have you sign the orange tag and put it into your gun case. (Don't bother locking the case yet.) Then she walks you down to the TSA counter where an agent will open your bag and gun case and do a physical inspection and wipe down for their chemical sniffer. So don't bother to lock the case or suitcase until AFTER you are done with TSA in SLC.
Once TSA does their wipe down, they or you will lock the gun case and bag (sometimes the agent asks you for your locks while you watch him, sometimes he asks you to just lock it while he watches you) and off it goes for regular baggage handling. I always use real (non-TSA locks) on both my gun case and outside my luggage. Once TSA inspects it once, they should not need to open the case again. I do take a couple extra locks with just in case, but have never had one cut off if I have a declared gun in the case. I also have a combo bike cable lock that I loop around the handle of the gun case and then through the interior frame of my roller board just so the gun case can't easily fall out of an open suitcase should it "accidentally" be opened.
There is sometimes a few minutes' wait in SLC for the TSA to come out and actually inspect your bag. On this trip, someone else was already there having a gun case with two AR style rifles being inspected so the wait was a bit less.
Without exception I can say that checking a gun on Delta in SLC has never added more than about 10 minutes to my check in time compared to checking a bag without a gun. (It does of course add a few minutes compared to not checking a bag and adds the time on the arrival end waiting to claim your bag. But with all the restrictions on liquids and gels these days, I'd just as soon check a bag for anything more than 1 or 2 nights anyway.) On at least one occasion, checking a gun meant that my bag arrived with me while the bags of others traveling with me did not due to some baggage handling issues.
In Dulles the procedure is a bit different as the TSA still has their x-ray machines out near the check in counter. At Dulles, after declaring the gun to the Delta agent and signing the card and putting it inside the gun case, you lock everything up at the counter and then walk down to the TSA station. Sometimes the Delta agent comes with you, sometimes not. You tell the TSA there is a declared firearm and he has you wait about 2 minutes while they run your bag through the x-ray machine (usually bumping it to the head of the line of any waiting bags). They wave you on and your bag is sent on for regular baggage handling.
Reagan National is very similar to Dulles in this regard and in both cases checking a gun typically adds only 5 to 10 minutes over checking a bag without a gun.
I've never had any king of issue in any of these three airports as far as checking a gun. Nor have I have ever had any problem with my luggage that has a checked gun in it, other than the long (~ one hour) wait in Dulles for all checked baggage to arrive for pickup.
The closest I ever came to an issue was flying out of SLC with a Scottish basket hilt sword packed in a shot gun case. The agent wasn't quit sure what to do, but figured I'd better sign the gun tag since it looked like a gun case. Signing under penalty of perjury, I modified the card language to swear that the "sword" was not loaded and was on my way. ;-)
I've never attempted to fly out of an airport in an RKBA unfriendly area and have never relied upon federal safe journey laws. And I don't have a lot of experience on airlines other than Delta.
But I can say that on Delta, to gun friendly locations (SLC, St. George, Virginia, Florida, Texas, Arizona) that I've never had a moments problem with a declared firearm in my checked luggage.
So don't let the fact that you are flying dissuade you from being properly armed while visiting an RKBA friendly location.
Charles