Inconsistency of Air Travel with Firearms.....

[Rob Pincus]

I just got through the latest firearms travel debacle...... Venting needed:
***

Generally, I try to keep air travel with firearms to a bare minimum because of things like this. I am heading down to Texas for a week of taping for the PDV DVD series that includes a title covering Sub-Compact Firearms and their use... especially the non-typical guns in calibers under 9mm. I decided to through a collection of miscellaneous pocket pistols into a nice locking metal rifle case and take them with me so I would have a diverse array of operating procedures to cover. Little did I know that Continental  airlines enforces a limit on the number of firearms per case!  So when the lady at the counter is horrified my the mish-mashed collection in my case, she calls over a supervisor who quotes some obscure regulation saying the number is Five.


Rob: "Really?  I've traveled with a lot of guns and never heard that before.... is it just your airline?"
Guy: "No, that is a federal rule."
Rob: "Really? Because sometimes I hear that certain airline or airport rules are universal, but they aren't.... like the Denver rule about going to a separate room ro check in guns, lots of clerks in Denver think that is the rule everywhere."
Guy: "Well some rules aren't always enforced."
Rob: "Do we need to enforce this one now?"
Guy: "Absolutely. And the only reason I know it is is because I'm kinda the "gun guy" around here.... one time I had a passenger going to England with a squirrel gun... blah, blah, blah......"

So I call my wife back to the airport, she comes in and collects three pieces that I can probably scrounge up down in TX (NAA, Derringer and my  carry J-frame).

I finallly get checked in and take the case with my other bag to TSA.

TSA: " How's it going today, sir?"
Rob: "Great, but I just found out that there is a limit to the number of guns I can have in a case."
TSA: "That's news to me. Who told you that?"
Rob: "Continental guy... never heard of it before, but I thought maybe it was new."
TSA: "yeah, well the airlines sometimes just make up their owns rules, but thats not one I've ever heard before... I certainly wouldn't have stopped you from having as many as you could fit in there!"

So, if you happen to purchase the Sub-Compact DVD and I don't demonstrate with a Derringer,  blame Continental!

*****

There, I feel better now.

[Green Mountain Gringo]

Rob: "Do we need to enforce this one now?"

I would've LOVED to hear that line in person...it sounds SOOOO funny in my head.   

[DonWorsham]

TSA: "yeah, well the airlines sometimes just make up their owns rules, but thats not one I've ever heard before... I certainly wouldn't have stopped you from having as many as you could fit in there!"

While it may not do any good, it may make you feel  better...write a letter to the corporate office of Continental... emphasize the detriment to your business.

[Green Mountain Gringo]

I always loved this sign

[DonWorsham]

From the Continental website...

Firearms
Continental accepts one item of shooting equipment per customer as checked baggage. One item of shooting equipment is defined as one hard-sided shooting equipment case containing up to five firearms, with or without scopes, 11 lbs (five Kgs.) of ammunition and articles used in the firearm sport.

[Sponsor]

[Rob Pincus]

THanks, Don.... that reminds me of the United counter girl who told me that I should have gone to the website to find out that United recommends arriving 2 hours early when you are checking "special items"..... I missed that flight and the luggage with the gun case got lost!

GMG,

I thought it was funny too... they did not. They also really weren't comfortable with the idea that I didn't actually know how many guns were in the case in the first place.... but it probably would've sounded funny when I said " seven or eight".... and followed it up with "I just threw a bunch in there this morning".... that was before the supervisor guy came over.....


-RJP

[Timothy]

Along these lines, how does one travel from state to state with checked handguns?  I've not been on a plane since 1997 so I'm a little rusty in this regard.  Have no plans in the near future but can someone link me to an informational site that explains the law, Federal regulation, etc.....

From the direction this thread comes from it's obvious that the airlines don't have a common procedure and that doesn't suprise me.

thanks in advance....MI and MO are two places I would be interested in most because not only do I visit there on occasion, both states recognize my CCW from this silly communist outpost we call Massachusetts.   

[Rob Pincus]

In theory, you show up with a lockable metal case with unloaded guns. You can have up to 11 pounds of commericially loaded ammo in its original box(es) in a separate piece of luggage. If you are carrying a pistol, you can have a small metal case inside a larger piece of luggae, but that luggage still can't contain ammo.

I've heard that Boston, NYC and Chicago (maybe others) have decided that you CANNOT have firearms at the airport even if you are legally transporting them through those cities from and to legal spots. This could become an issue if you got bumped from a connection in Chicago, for example, and had to spend the night. When you go back the next morning to check in your guns, you are in violation of law. Don't know if it has happened yet....YMMV.

As noted, you could call the airline/airport to get specific nuances, but I've found them to be inconsistent as well. The guy you talk to on Tuesday may not have the same procedure as the person who is working the counter on Wednesday. You can always print out the rules and regs from a website and carry them with you... but at the end of the day, if the person at the counter makes something up in their head, it is you that misses the flight regardless of your preparation and intentions.....

-RJP

[TAB]

I wonder if it has to do with the value( or thier idea of what guns are worth) and thier insurance.  Thats a very strange policy.

Then again, I had a gun case run over by something, it took me months to get money out of amiercan.  

[D-Man]

In theory, you show up with a lockable metal case with unloaded guns. You can have up to 11 pounds of commericially loaded ammo in its original box(es) in a separate piece of luggage. If you are carrying a pistol, you can have a small metal case inside a larger piece of luggae, but that luggage still can't contain ammo.

-RJP

I was always told that you could have the ammo in the same case as the firearm, just in its orginal box.  Nothing on the TSA website, or any of the airlines websites that I have checked specify that the ammo has to be in a different piece of luggage.  Did I miss something, or is that just a practice you do in order to avoid issues with the airlines?  When travel to states where I can CCW, I use a small case that has the handgun, a box of 20 rounds, two magazines all together in a locked metal case.  Only one airline, here in California, gave me any grief over it.  Other states (that were part of the same airline) said, that is stupid to have it separate (or without ammo) as how are you supposed to use it once you arrive?