Air travel from FL to PA with checked in gun...

M

Mokumbear

New member
I know that my state, Florida, has CCW reciprocity with Pennsylvania.

I had researched the rules for declaring and checking in an unloaded gun in a secure, locked box.

I was talking with a gun store employee this weekend who has been in
the gun field a long time and has been kind enough to offer me gun tips fairly often.

He made it seem that there was issue about traveling to PA by air with a gun.
We got into another topic and I never got to clarify this.

Is there anything that would legally prevent you from traveling to PA with your gun?

What/where is the answer to this? I would like to bring my gun but
absolutely do not want to "arrive for vacation and leave on probation!" :eek:
 
The issue MAY be that the man who was arrested at Newark International a couple of years ago was flying from PA to his home in (IIRC) Idaho. He missed a connection and had to retrieve his luggage, spend the night in an airport hotel, then check the luggage (and gun) in again the next morning. The counter clerk called the cops, who arrested him.

So, "Pennsylvania" may show up in the story, but the problem didn't involve Pennsylvania. Just be sure your flight itinerary doesn't have to changing planes at any of the New York airports.
 
Keep in mind that if you're flying to Pittsburgh, it is more likely to have to get a connecting flight than if you're flying to Philadelphia. Depending on where you're coming from, connecting flights will go through Chicago, Illinois, which is definitely not a state whose firearms laws I'd care to deal with.
 
Hmmm...

The most likely route will involve FL ---> GA ---> PA

What is the way to tell if a state will be OK with your checked in gun?
Does CCW reciprocity have anything to do with it? Or???

BTW, what is the correct thing to do if circumstance requires an
unplanned stop in a place like NY, IL, etc where they are trying to get you to take possession of your luggage?

How can you keep yourself out of legal trouble in this scenario?
 
Mokum Bear said:
BTW, what is the correct thing to do if circumstance requires an unplanned stop in a place like NY, IL, etc where they are trying to get you to take possession of your luggage?

How can you keep yourself out of legal trouble in this scenario?
Click to expand...
Don't take possession of the luggage. It's just that simple. That's what got the guy in the Newark case in trouble.

Tell the airline that you checked the luggage legally with a firearm legally inside, that it's ILlegal for you to possess the firearm in NY (or IL), and that for that reason it is up to them to get your luggage to the final destination because you CANNOT claim it in NY (or IL).
 
To the original poster, just avoid NY/NJ like it's overrun by zombies and you'll be fine. Be careful in Phily, they have some of their own regs about carrying separate from the rest of the state. I BELIEVE it only pertains to open carry though, so if you plan any trips into the city just double check.

If you have to come over to NJ for any reason, DO NOT BRING A GUN. No iffs, no buts, you get caught you'll wish your mom had never looked at your dad. Don't put it in the trunk, don't bring it in the state! :barf:
 
Be careful in Phily, they have some of their own regs about carrying separate from the rest of the state.
Click to expand...

My post below is not legal advice. If you want legal advice, hire and consult your own counsel. That said...

To be precise, Philadelphia does not have its own handgun regulations. The Pennsylvania legislature has preempted municipal ordinances on firearms and ammunition. Pennsylvania law, however, states that a license is required to carry a handgun (open OR concealed) in a "city of the first class" -- which is a city with 1 million residents or more. Philadelphia is the only "city of the first class" in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania "CCW" permit is actually called a "License to Carry Firearms", which permits the bearer to carry a handgun concealed, carry a handgun in an automobile, or carry a handgun (openly or concealed) in a city of the first class.

[EDIT: And to nitpick my own post, because laws on firearms are a rabbit hole from which it's tough to emerge, Philadelphia may have some ordinances still officially on the books, but because of preemption, they are legally unenforceable.]
 
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