Airline check a firearm?

[nakman]

Say a guy found himself in another state, flying home, and picked up a rifle or two.. can you check those like luggage? I mean, people fly somewhere to hunt, right? nothing special?

never done this before obviously.

 

[wesintl]

yes, you need to have a hard locking case

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

 

[jps8460]

yes, you need to have a hard locking case

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition

Yep done this, it's all good

 

[nakman]

cool, thanks guys. Looks like something I could just roll into the sporting good's store and pick up if needed, perfect.

headed to Tucson to help the folks move, and my dad told me to take some of his old hunting gubs back with me. not even sure what they are, when I was a kid was afraid to go near them.

 

[Myredyota]

Kinda fun to watch the faces on the ticket people when I say "I need to declare a firearm." Each time I fly out of Pittsburgh with a gun, the TSA agents act like "OMG A GUN! DON'T LOOK AT IT! IT MIGHT GO OFF!"

 

[Uncle Ben]

Kinda fun to watch the faces on the ticket people when I say "I need to declare a firearm." Each time I fly out of Pittsburgh with a gun, the TSA agents act like "OMG A GUN! DON'T LOOK AT IT! IT MIGHT GO OFF!"

Interesting. I have always been surprised by how uninterested the agents all seem. The main thing they are always interested in is how far seperated ammo is from the hunting tool. I've never had to deal with TSA as the gun is checked at the counter.

 

[wesintl]

Oh, i've has all kinds of fun flying with guns. Get there early because you don't know how long it will take.

I've had to go down to the rooms where they scan baggage and they wanted me to give them the keys. ah no per TSA regs Only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock.

Make sure you know the rules because mostly they don't.

 

[LARGEONE]

Oh, i've has all kinds of fun flying with guns. Get there early because you don't know how long it will take.

I've had to go down to the rooms where they scan baggage and they wanted me to give them the keys. ah no per TSA regs Only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock.

Make sure you know the rules because mostly they don't.

So scary...your checked, locked firearm might jump out of its case and climb into the plane or something.

 

[DanS]

...ah no per TSA regs Only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock.

Make sure you know the rules because mostly they don't.

Just a quick note, that there are really three things you need to be able to comply with:

TSA Regs
Airline "Brand" Rules
Airline Rules

As a guy who is ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with all of them on my flights, there are cases where my carrier has more restrictive rules on the carriage of firearms and ammunition than the TSA or the Airline "Brand" does. For instance, my carrier used to operate a fleet (of which I was a Captain) that had a maximum quantity of ammunition broken down per "zone" of the aircraft. Which meant that if two guys were seated next to each other that we could be more limited in what they could carry than the TSA regulations did. Of course this came up semi-regularly, because they were often traveling together. There isn't really a good way to check on this in advance, because United/Delta/American are not likely to know the specific restrictions that may effect an airplane flown by one of their subcontractors.

Generally won't be an issue though, but just understand that there are times that you just need to be flexible to make it work. If you are not traveling with ammunition it gets 100 times easier (or at least, there are really only two rules for firearms alone: hard case, passenger ONLY has the key in the cabin).

But we do it on a semi-regular basis. No big deal.

Dan

 

[Corbet]

Might be easier to just ship them to a FFL for pick up in Denver upon return. You'll have to do a background check to get them back I'm sure.

 

[rover67]

cant you just box them up and mail them to yourself?

 

[Corbet]

Complicated question, but as they would cross state lines my understanding is no.

 

[rover67]

Why is it complicated?

I always assumed one could mail themselves a gun, but I just checked and it looks like it is actually the case. I mean it seems logical anyhow.

https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/0501-firearms-top-10-qaspdf/download


6. May I lawfully ship a firearm to myself in a different State?
Any person may ship a firearm to himself or herself in the care of another person in the State where
he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. The package should be addressed to
the owner “in the care of” the out-of-State resident. Upon reaching its destination, persons other than
the owner must not open the package or take possession of the firearm.

 

[wesintl]

It's becomes complicated if technically he doesn't own them. IT's a gift or inner family transfer. That can happen if both reside in the same state rather simply. Because they live in separate states it becomes more complicated. Who knows maybe they are really Tim's and his dad has stored them all these years and moved to Az with them.

http://www.nssfblog.com/giving-a-firearm-as-a-gift-some-reminders-from-nssf/

 

[rover67]

yeah it sounds to me like they're Tim's

 

[Corbet]

When my father passed and I ended up with his from the estate. I flew home and drove the gubs back to Utah.

 

[nakman]

I ended up leaving them there... my mom got a storage place, when I'm back down at Christmas I will snag 'em then just drive back with them.

Not exactly an arsenal... there's a .22 rifle and my dad's BB gun- a Daisy Red Rider, just like the movie. I was thinking that could be worth something, but then did a quick search and looks like they can be had all day for $30. so maybe we'll just put some BB's through it.