power_shack
Regular Member
imported post
I will be traveling from Virginia to Florida soon and will be flying out of BWI Airport. I'll be taking a pistol with me, so I want to make sure I understand and obey all the necessary laws. I would have preferred to fly out of Virginia, but that will not be possible for this trip.
I found the Maryland law for the transportation of a handgun here:
http://mlis.state.md.us/asp/statutes_Respond.asp?article=gcr§ion=4-203&Extension=HTML
It does not make an exception for transporting a handgun within a vehicle when traveling to the airport to fly out. So, according to my reading of the law, it is not legal under Maryland law to transport a handgun to the airport to fly out of the state.
However, it appears that the Federal Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) does protect me legally for my trip given that my direct route is through Maryland and BWI airport:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000926---A000-.html
I found a FAQ from the Maryland State Police that makes reference to the FOPA (page 5):
http://www.mdsp.org/downloads/Licensing_Faq.pdf
So Maryland State Police seem to be aware of the provision and the protection it provides. The PDF states that the ammo must be separate from the firearm during transportation, but I could not find a reference to this in the Maryland code link above. The FOPA does not specify that the ammo must be in a separate container. I plan to fly with the ammo in the same hard-sided locked container as the unloaded handgun, per TSA regulations:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm
Does someone have a reference to a Maryland law that requires the ammo to be transported in a separate container from the handgun? If this is Maryland law, do I need to follow it assuming that the FOPA protects me in transporting the ammo and the handgun in the same container?
I plan to fly with Southwest and found their regulations here:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/guns.html
Southwest seems to be in line with the TSA rules, so I don't see any issues here.
I plan to have the ammo and the unloaded handgun locked in a Pelican case using two Abloy Protec PL 321 Padlocks.
Have any of you traveled from Virginia to BWI to fly out with a handgun or other firearm? Any issues with checking and declaring a firearm at BWI?
Thanks for any feedback you can provide.
I will be traveling from Virginia to Florida soon and will be flying out of BWI Airport. I'll be taking a pistol with me, so I want to make sure I understand and obey all the necessary laws. I would have preferred to fly out of Virginia, but that will not be possible for this trip.
I found the Maryland law for the transportation of a handgun here:
http://mlis.state.md.us/asp/statutes_Respond.asp?article=gcr§ion=4-203&Extension=HTML
It does not make an exception for transporting a handgun within a vehicle when traveling to the airport to fly out. So, according to my reading of the law, it is not legal under Maryland law to transport a handgun to the airport to fly out of the state.
However, it appears that the Federal Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) does protect me legally for my trip given that my direct route is through Maryland and BWI airport:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000926---A000-.html
I found a FAQ from the Maryland State Police that makes reference to the FOPA (page 5):
http://www.mdsp.org/downloads/Licensing_Faq.pdf
So Maryland State Police seem to be aware of the provision and the protection it provides. The PDF states that the ammo must be separate from the firearm during transportation, but I could not find a reference to this in the Maryland code link above. The FOPA does not specify that the ammo must be in a separate container. I plan to fly with the ammo in the same hard-sided locked container as the unloaded handgun, per TSA regulations:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm
Does someone have a reference to a Maryland law that requires the ammo to be transported in a separate container from the handgun? If this is Maryland law, do I need to follow it assuming that the FOPA protects me in transporting the ammo and the handgun in the same container?
I plan to fly with Southwest and found their regulations here:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/guns.html
Southwest seems to be in line with the TSA rules, so I don't see any issues here.
I plan to have the ammo and the unloaded handgun locked in a Pelican case using two Abloy Protec PL 321 Padlocks.
Have any of you traveled from Virginia to BWI to fly out with a handgun or other firearm? Any issues with checking and declaring a firearm at BWI?
Thanks for any feedback you can provide.