Airline Travel with Weapons & Ammo?

D

Digger

New member
What are the rules on Airline Travel with weapons and ammo?

Obviously you'll have to check your baggage, but can you check ammo?

I'd like a little more security in the Hotel room than the flimsy chain on the door. So I'd like to unpack my bags and put a loaded pistol on the nightstand. What's the best way?
 
Digger, it depends on the airline and probably the locations involved.

You'll need to ask the droids at the counter for their airline's specific rules, but in general, the gun and ammo must be separate, in locked metal cases, and identifed as a firearm or ammo (so the baggage monkeys can steal it easier?). Ammo must be in factory boxes, like the droids would know anyway.

Search for "airline" for more detailed info.

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"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."
-- Samuel Johnson
 
The airlines make you declare your weapon(s) in your checked luggage and then they will want to put that "steal me" tag on it that says "firearms" or some such. Some airlines you can convince not to tag it on the outside. I think the recommendation for putting it in your luggage is that it has to be encased in a hard case, and I think that if you have hard sided luggage this qualifies. Insure the heck out of it. Ammo can't go by air. You might check UPS or some other carrier to see if they will accept ammo as a ground shipment to your hotel, that way the ammo is waiting on you when you arrive. If not, what has worked for me is to stop by one of the 24hr Wal-Marts and pick up a box of ammo. It probably won't be your preferred stuff, but it's something.

-sarah
 
Carriers are forbidden by law from marking baggage as containing a firearm. The tag should be put in the inside of the bag.
 
In my experiences, you must declare you have a firearm at the check in counter. The firearm must be in a hard case with a lock. The nervous lady (or man) behind the counter will ask you to prove it's not loaded.
After doing so, she tags the inside of the case. You lock it and off it goes.
You can not fly with ammo. It must be sent seperately. Try UPS shipping.

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Svt
Son's Place

Rangers Lead the Way
 
In a small voice, he says,"Another reasonable compromise." ;)

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Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!
 
I think the magazine Combat Handguns did a story last month on how to deal with flying w/ firearms. I will check when I get home.

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"Ray guns don't vaporize Zorbonians, Zorbonians vaporize Zorbonians" The Far Side
 
Call the carrier you are traveling with
and get detailed instructions , if you can have them fax those to you and take them to the counter with you , people tend to
follow
the rules differently.
I am a aircraft mech. and travel to where ever our planes break , No names here .
I got called up in the middle of the night
a few weeks ago for a road trip , Being mostly asleep , I grabbed my work coat a suit case and was out the door heading down
to LAX , as I got to the metal detector I did the pocket check thing and found a loaded 1911 mag.in my inside coat from the
day before ,
So I laid it in the bowl with my swiss army tool and sure-fire light and waited for the swat team to come running out of the wood
work , I noticed the guard remove the mag. and he said nothing then I walked through the box as I retrieved my stuff and
started to walk away , He called out and said here is your clip , as he handed it to me he said
"the mag. is ok but I cant let you have the ammo "
So I lost 7 rnds. I can live with that .
R. S.

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Walk Softly, and Carry
 
My experience with Northwest while transporting my AR-15 was really laid back : South Dakota to Michigan. They said "factory packaging" for the ammo. I said "it comes in plastic bags (factory reloaded Black Hills ammo)". They said that's fine. The bag had to be locked though (had it in the middle of my duffelbag surrounded by clothes).

"Droid at the counter" is so right on! In a semi-crowded counter area, they droid asked me to prove to him the weapon was unloaded. I said you have to look in the chamber to be sure, then he said "show me the chamber , then."

So I uncase the AR, hold it up, lock the bolt to the rear and say "look in there....no round is chambered." The crowd went silent like a pond full of frogs. Since then, though, the policy seems to have changed. They just ask if it's unloaded anymore.
 
Randall has some good advice--call ahead of time.. Better yet, visit the check-in in person, if possible. I flew a .22 colt home with me last Christmas via Northwest and asked three different reps: at the check-in counter at home before I left, at the check-in counter when I arrived, and I called the 1-800 number. Each time I got a different response as to how I should pack the gun. So, I chose the most strict of the three-

1. Unloaded (duh)
2. Locked in a hard pistol case
3. Locked in a hard-shell suitcase

The check-in lady's face clouded over when I mentioned that I was checking in a firearm. It's funny how fast the attitude changes from the usual mechanical courtesy to cold suspicion. She needed to see that it was unloaded, but it might as well have contained 800 rounds of ammo, because she barely glanced at it. I had to sign a tag that was placed in the case with the gun, but nothing was marked on the outside of the suitcase. Overall, it was a painless, discreet experience.

Here's a link that I was referred to for advice:
http://www.brownsguncraft.com/airtravl.htm

--Mercator


[This message has been edited by Mercator (edited February 04, 2000).]
 
1. Call the carrier and ask them what their rules are before you fly.

2. Don't worry. Airlines have people checking firearms in their luggage every day. They are professional about it--even if some of the folks behind the counter have that personal uneasy feeling about firearms.

3. At least a few years ago, you were allowed to fly WITH AMMO checked in your luggage. I was told by the airline (don't remember which) that their limit was 200 rounds of ammunition as long as it was in a locked suitcase. This may have changed, but the polite woman read to me from the FAA guidelines, and that is what they said.

As mentioned above, the airline will NOT put a "steal me" tag on the outside of your luggage. The tag goes INSIDE with the firearm.

I've traveled at least a dozen times with a firearm checked, and have not once had a problem.

Tango
 
Tango - Ditto on the 200 round rule. I forgot to mention that; no one except the Northwest employee I telephoned before packing mentioned it, but she DID mention it.
 
Check FAR 121.585 (Federal Aviation Regulation), which is found in 14 CFR 121.585 (Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 121.585 -- available in many university libraries). It addresses the carrying of firearms/ammo in checked luggage. Since I do not have a current copy of this regulation, I don't know the specifics of checking ammo, other than it must be carried in a separate container.

I checked my collection of 'firearm inspection tags' from 12 airlines where I had declared an unloaded handgun in checked luggage. Fully one third of them erroneously referred to FAR 108.11, which only authorizes LEOs to carry a weapon on his person aboard the plane when escorting prisoners, etc. I also checked my collection of 'Notice to Armed Individuals and Prisoner Escorts', and found that several of them erroneously referred to FAR 121.585 as authorizing a LEO to carry on-board.

In 14 years of flying as an armed LEO, I have experienced difficulty with only one ticket agent. I asked him to call my chief. He came back a few minutes later, red-faced and apologetic, and encouraged me to board the plane (armed). When I arrived at my destination I phoned my chief for an explanation of the phone discussion--sorry, it isn't fit to print.

When I declare the handgun in checked luggage I experience problems with poorly trained ticket agents. Some still try to attach the "steal-me sticker" to the outside of the luggage. The law changed in 1994--it must be placed inside. Some want to see if the gun is loaded, some do not. One airline, my favorite, expressly forbids its employees from asking to see the gun. The passengers declaration is sufficient.

By the way, you can contact FAA or the Security Division of any airline for more details.

Hope this helps!
 
I'm kinda ready for bed right now, and I do this all the time, so I must confess that I did not read all the posts. There was some bad info in some of the first few though...

They changed the laws a few years back, the Airlines are no longer ALLOWED to put the "steal me" tags on the cases. The "unloaded" tag now goes INSIDE the locked container with the weapon.

Furthermore, you do not have to have metal cases, nor cases at all... BUT, the guns do have to be in a locked container... Ie- you could put them in your softsided luggage with one of those aluminum foil zipper locks and you would be in compliance.
What I generally do is put pistols inside a lockable pistol case, then put the whole case inside a bigger piece of normal luggage.

When it comes to rifles, I have to "bite the bullet" and use regular metal gun cases, with locks, and just cross my fingers that the cases don't walk out of the airport without me.

The FAA puts out the regs, so almost every Airline abides by them. Some counter personnel will be more comfortable with it than otehrs. Often the counter person will not even want to "inspect" the firearm to ensure that it is empty (as they are supposed to do), so I usually make a big show out of showing them, making sure that everyone around me sees an hears the gun being cycled.... I think of it as a "firearms awareness" opportunity.. as in : Hey, look even people who fly own guns, not just guys in seedy vans driving cross-country!

you'll have to keep the ammo in a seperat piece of luggage, and the ammount you can have is determined by the wieght. But, I have never been asked to show them the ammo, nor provide the total wieght of the rounds I was bringing along.....

Don't be intimidated, and good luck.

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-Essayons
 
The only signs I've seen were to the effect that no explosives of any kind may go on board the plane (ie ammo). If it's just a firearm, I'd say don't declare it.
 
I did read the Combat Handguns article. And I have traveled all over with my handguns. (I travel a lot for my job and I try to shoot IDPA on the road when I can.) I do know the rules very well for American and Delta as they are the same. Gun must be in a locked case. Show the counter attendant the firearm is unloaded. Tag is required to go inside that locked case. Ammo is limited to 11 pounds in factory packaging and must be in a different checked bag. Reloading boxes are ok in place of factory packaging. I have never had a problem with any of this. Personaly, I also padlock my luggage that contains the locked case.

However, Massad makes a good point in the article. Some people at the counter may still believe the gun must be inside a hard shell case and interpret that to mean your luggage must be hard shelled as well. Right or wrong.. you may be held up enough to miss your flight. So, I am picking up a small hard shell piece of luggage just for this purpose. I will check the handguns in this case and the ammo in the regular luggage. No sense givng them anything to hold me up over.

I have to say I have never had any problems traveling with any firearms. Most ticket agents have been very nice. Heck, some of the local agents now just look at me and ask "What are you traveling with THIS time, Bubba?" :)

DVC


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Bubba
IDPA# A04739
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It is long been a principal of ours that one is no more armed because he has possession of a firearm than he is a musician because he owns a piano. There is no point in having a gun if you are not capable of using it skillfully. - Jeff Cooper
 
How times they have changed. In Dec. of 1954 I was comming home on leave. I flew out of LAX with a S&W M19 .357, and ammo, in my carry on bag. I never even thought to ask if it was legal, just went on board, no sweat!

Semper Fi
 
Didn't read a single reply. Check your airline co.

I flew past summer with the BHP on United. It has to go in a lockable box & they stuck the "it's unloaded firearm" tag inside the box at the check-in counter. Too, I was only allowed to carry 11 lbs (that's how they put it) in original factory boxes.

Soon as we grabbed the rental car, stuffed the mags, racked & safety on.
 
I fly quite a bit on business, and Rob hit it on the head. Decleare it at the counter. Show them it is unloaded, if they ask. Some do, some do not. I place my pistol in a locked carry case, hard plastic, the one it came in from the factory. Sign the card. Northwest is red, Continental is blue. Put it in the locked case. Lock it. Lock the bag. I have never been asked to show the ammo. When I am going to be gone for a couple of days, I will take 200 rounds because I know of a couple of indoor ranges to go to. I also show them my CCW when they ask for a photo ID.

All airlines have websites. Check out the rules and call them on the phone if you have any doubt.

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John
(formerly johnboy)
 
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