Flying wiht Guns!

20 Aug 08

Flying with guns:

Many have asked me about flying with guns via commercial airlines. They want to be armed after they arrive at their destination.

I do it a lot! Yes, tin helps, but not as much as you might think. Neither airline clerks, nor TSA employees, have any particular regard for local, peon police officers.

Here are my recommendations:

Most of us know that guns must be unloaded and packed in a hard case that is individually locked, in order to satisfy TSA regulations for air-transport in checked baggage. The hard, plastic case that your pistol came in will probably suffice, as most are now lockable. Trigger locks are not required, nor are they recommended.

Pistols locked in the box need to be unloaded (no round chambered), dry-fired, and with magazines removed and placed elsewhere in your luggage. Even empty magazines, when inserted into unloaded pistols, have been known to"confuse " TSA inspectors. And, when you're in a place where high-capacity magazines may be an issue, removing them from pistols and putting them elsewhere in your luggage is a good idea. TSA may look at your guns. They rarely lookat magazines. TSA doesn't care about state and local restrictions, but when local police become involved, problems could develop. Best that you not attract their attention!

SIG makes a superior air-transport box, and it is the one I use, no matter what pistols I'm traveling with. It can be locked so that it cannot even be opened a crack without first undoing the locks. To lock it up, I use cable locks that now come with most new guns. SIG's shipping container is compact, yet big enough to hold two pistols in foam-padded comfort. I don't recommend traveling with just one gun. Guns break unexpectedly sometimes, and, when they do, you'll be glad you have two!

The locked box then goes inside your ordinary-looking luggage, so there is no external suggestion that there are guns inside. Your luggage should then also be locked. Best locks to use are "TSA locks" to whichTSA has access via special keys. Using them makes it unnecessary for TSA to cut locks off your luggage, which they will do without much ceremony!

I usually travel with three, twenty-round boxes of high-performance pistol ammunition. Unlike guns, it does not need to be in a locked box. Ammunition in factory (cardboard or plastic) boxes (so long as cartridges are individually contained) works just fine. Quantity is supposedly restricted, usually by weight, so there is a limit, but sixty rounds is no problem. Ammunition may also be transported in charged pistol and rifle magazines, so long as the top, exposed round is covered. I transport charged magazines (both pistoland rifle) fully inserted in their Comp-Tac belt carriers and then tucked intoa padded case.

Every airport is different! After declaration, sometimes the airline clerk wants to see your guns. However, they mostly have no interest and just ask you to sign the tag, put it in your luggage, and then send you to off TSA. Sometimes, they want the tag inside the gun-box itself. Most of the time,they don't care where you put it! TSA will then x-ray your luggage and may want to physically look inside the gun box itself.

When flying with a large carrier, like United, it is best to go to the " Odd-Size" luggage counter. The folks there are used to checking guns. When " declaring," I matter-of-factly (but softly) say, "I have unloaded guns in my checked baggage." In airports like DIA, where they do it a lot, it is no particular event. In airports like Newark, JFK, et al, reaction may be more animated. Folding knives and sheath-knives (secured in sheaths), expandible batons, saps, etc are best put in a padded gun-rag, inside checked luggage. No need to mention them.

When dealing with TSA, and bureaucrats in general, the secret is, "Don' t-fail-the-attitude-test!" You will come out on the losing end of any power struggle, so don't even go there! So long as you're civil, non-threatening, and refrain from whining, TSA folks will actually try to help you. However, don' t be chatty, and don't answer questions that weren't asked. Be polite, but exceedingly boring. Be clean, reasonably well-groomed, and have an otherwise "normal" appearance. They'll quickly lose interest in you! " Standing-out," for any reason, is the last thing you want to do when traveling!

You won't be able to carry guns nor ammunition onto the passenger area of the plane, of course, but there are other useful items you might want in your carry-on bag:

A small flashlight. I travel with my Firstlight Tomahawk all the time, also my Blackhawk Gladius, and various Surefires. Sharing space in my carry-on, I have an electric toothbrush and an electric shaver. When my bags don't make it to my destination, I can at least shave and brush my teeth! TSA has never expressed concern with, nor interest in, any of the above.

When flying, I wear steel-toed safety boots. They are formidable weapons! With a single kick, I can effortlessly break a shin or an ankle, essentially immobilizing my opponent, all with no risk to my own foot. Nevertheless, my boots have been x-rayed hundreds of times, and TSA thinks they're just fine! My Cold Steel City Stick also travels with me, and it, too, has been x-rayed more time than I can count. No prescription is needed for a cane. I also have a Cold-Steel Sharkie in my carry-on, along with an ST ActionPro Talon. Both have been with me on dozens of flights, and, since there is no metal in either, TSA has never even looked at them.

My concern is, of course, being able to effectively defend myself between when the plane arrives and when I can get into my luggage and re-arm myself. Airport parking lots, at night, are fraught with danger! Mugging suspects like them, because they believe all their potential victims there are unarmed. It's a lot safer than mugging people downtown!

Columbia makes an upscale 36-inch "Wheeled-Duffel" that is perfect for transporting rifles. An M4 with the stock telescoped all the way in, and nearly any folding-stock military rifle with the stock folded, can be accommodated. The rifle is locked inside a 32-inch hard case, and the case then goes inside the duffel. In addition, I carry a soft-fabric viola case for low-profile rifle transport after I arrive at my destination and subsequently need to go about without the hard case.

The foregoing applies to domestic air-travel. Flying internationally is a different subject. When I travel overseas, my local friends see that I am well-armed after I arrive. Accordingly, I don't transport guns on international flights.

There is, of course, a risk that checked baggage will be pilfered or lost. It has surely happened. You can purchase insurance for the trip, but I usually don't bother, as it takes a lot of time, and such risks are something that, in the end, we all have to accept.

I usually arrive at the airport a minimum of two hours before flight-time. With that buffer, I've never been rushed.

After 9/11, I made a change in my personal philosophy. I decided that I'm not going to travel without a rifle! I've always traveled with pistols, but I' m now concerned about being stranded in a strange place with only pistols for personal protection.

When you fly with guns, the System will grudgingly accommodate you. You just have to do the best you can to make it work. Of course, there are risks inherent to traveling with guns. On the other hand, there are risks associated with traveling without guns too!

/John