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Flying with a firearm? Good info.

J

jfrenchudm

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Jun 13, 2008
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Ortonville, Michigan, USA
I have flown with my normal carry gun several times. A pelican case is a must! TSA locks are a big no-no. Most of the time, ammo in a magazine will not go over well, as they read the law to mean it has to be in a case. Checking a larger bag with your gun case inside of it is a good idea, as it hides it from potential thieves.
 
DrTodd

DrTodd

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I've flown with firearms to both California and Florida a few times. It is really quite easy. I landed and departed during the California trips from LAX without any problems.
The only things I would add is to check the destination's gun laws before you leave at www.handgunlaw.us and to avoid NY and NJ like the plague.
 
Mosnar87

Mosnar87

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My understanding, from watching this presentation, is that if you use a gun case that is not lockable inside of luggage that is locked the TSA has to consider the outer Luggage the "gun case" and thus must only open it in your presence.

IINAL.

ETA: If it was me, I would use hard side Luggage like Pelican cases or the mortar cases the gentleman doing the presentation used, as the security of your firearm relies on the LOCKED luggage, not on the gun case.
 
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Mosnar87

Mosnar87

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gutshot said:
How do you suppose they would know your gun case had no lock without first opening the suitcase?
Click to expand...

AFAIK, TSA is required to screen your luggage containing a declared firearm, immediately, in your presence and then tag it as screened, this usually involves an X-ray and then if something comes up that piques their interest they will ask you to open the case and they will inspect the contents. The luggage should not leave your presence untill it has a TSA inspection sticker and you have personally re-locked it.
 
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A

autosurgeon

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Lawrence, Michigan, United States
Mosnar87 said:
AFAIK, TSA is required to screen your luggage containing a declared firearm, immediately, in your presence and then tag it as screened, this usually involves an X-ray and then if something comes up that piques their interest they will ask you to open the case and they will inspect the contents. The luggage should not leave your presence untill it has a TSA inspection sticker and you have personally re-locked it.
Click to expand...


This is generally correct. However most of the time they hand inspect these and do a bomb swab as well. The rest of what my brother said is correct!
 
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