Traveling with Firearms: Different TSA Procedures/Experiences

[jetfire]

Todd's posts on Pistol-Training prompted me to post this thread to create some shared knowledge on different experiences people have had when flying with guns. This is only relevant to the post 9/11 era. The idea (hopefully) would be to create a place where people can get an idea of what to expect when flying out of an airport with a firearm. Here are all the ones that I can remember off the top of my head.

Airport: Seattle-Tacoma International
Airline: Alaska
Airline Process: Declare firearm to Alaska Airline clerk, who will give you a carbon copy declaration form. Fill the form out, put the back copy in your firearm case. The agent will ask you if the guns are unloaded but will not ask to seem them. Then walk over to the one of the three TSA oversize baggage screening areas.
TSA Procedure: The TSA Agent will take your locked case and swab it for explosives. At SEA-TAC I've never had them open my case, they just ask me if the gun is unloaded.
Observations: I fly out of Sea-Tac a lot, and most of the baggage handling guys are pretty good dudes. I've never had any issues there.
Notes: the same procedure applies to American Airlines and Delta when flown out of Sea-Tac.

[GearScout]

Airport: Providence, RI
Airline: Delta
Summary- Slow Get there early.
Airline Process: The airline staff had me sign an unloaded firearm declaration and put it in my pistol case. I closed everything up and then waited for a Delta skycap to escort me and my bag across the lobby to a little TSA room. (The counter staff doesn't this.) The skycaps were busy and it took a while for one to show up.
TSA Process: The TSA agent asked for the keys to the pistol case then took my bag into a locked room with an observation window. I saw him go through the bag, take out the pistol case, open the case look at the pistol, pack it up and then hand the bag back to the skycap so he can walk it down to the baggage loading area. It sounds fast but it wasn't. The TSA guy went very, very slowly. He looked all through my suitcase and it took him about 10 minutes to get through everything. I think he swabbed every surface of my suitcase and gun case. Leave plenty of time to deal with this if flying out of Providence.

Airport: Reagan/Washington National
Airline: Delta & US Air
Summary: Easy and Fast Adds about 5 mins to the normal check-in process.
Airline Process: I walk up and tell the counter person I'm checking a firearm. They have me sign the unloaded firearm declaration and put the orange tag inside the pistol case. They don't care to see the firearm. After everything is back in the suitcase, they walked the bag about 30 feet to the TSA luggage scanner.
TSA Process: Scanner asks if the pistol case was locked before scanning it. If it's locked, they want you to stand by if they need to open it. That's it. Fast and easy. Done this about 3-4 times in the last year.

[ToddG]

While I appreciate the goals of the thread, I can tell you as someone who flies out of one airport on the same airline a couple times a month that the process can vary wildly from clerk to clerk. The post on PTC is a great example... the last half dozen times I flew out of that airport on that airline, no one asked to verify the condition of the weapons. Then all of a sudden last Friday boom new person, new rules.

There are some things which are consistent. For example, Indianapolis has the weird "wait at the TSA cubicle with your permission slip after you get through security" thing. Baltimore does all of its baggage x-raying in the dungeon so you're asked to wait near the counter for 5-10 minutes after getting your ticket. Etc.

But beyond that, there's just not enough consistency. Airlines do a good but imperfect job training their folks. Some clerks like guns, some don't care, and some wish there were no privately owned guns in the country... and certainly not on their planes.

The best advice I can offer is to be familiar with TSA regulations and your airline's published policies. Do what you're supposed to but don't get into a pissing match with a ticket clerk. Don't get belligerent. Act like you're the professional. If things go sideways, ask to speak to a TSA supervisor.

And: don't make a mistake. I disassemble my guns before locking them up just to be doubly sure they're unloaded. I never bring anything into the cabin that has every had any gun-related item in it. That goes for everything from range bags to pants; my 5.11 and Vertex pants never get worn on flights and never go in a carry-on because one of these days instead of find a loose round in the dryer, it's going to get found by a metal detector or x-ray machine at an airport. I don't want to be there when it happens.

[jetfire]

Perhaps then we should just focus on the things that are consistent; I've flown out of Sea-Tac enough times for example to be very familiar with their TSA procedure. Perhaps the thread should just focus on the TSA procedures for each airport, since there is quite a bit of variation with the airlines.

[JFK]

Airport: ABQ - Albuquerque for those who do not talk in airport code...

Easy easy.

Most airlines check, put the sticker on the case, have you lock it and send it to the great unknown that is baggage handling. US Air, Continental / United and Southwest all ask you to check with the gate agent when you get through security just in case TSA needed you to unlock for some reason.

Airport: PHX

Pretty much the same, but sometimes they ask you to wait at the counter while it goes through a check in case they need to get you to open.

On a side note...

Flying though Dallas they took me to a little side room pre-security where TSA took my bag and checked it and then rubbed it with the little diaper, sniff thingy. The agent was very shocked when it came back positive for explosives. She asked me for an explanation. I told her I was dumfounded because outside of the primers, gun powder, dirty firearms, and various oils and solvents I had no idea....

[Slavex]

flying in Canada is much the same as we probably copied TSA procedures. Airline gives you a form, fill it out, they sign and date it (as do you), they give you a copy. Ask if the guns are unloaded and either direct you to oversize baggage to have it scanned immediately, send it to airport security to look at it (for airports with no scanners) or ask you to wait while it goes to the basement to get scanned. I haven't had them ask to look at the gun in ages.
for my flight to Athens on Lufthansa out of Vancouver I didn't have to fill anything out as it was already on the computer from when I bought the ticket at my travel agent. The scanner dude was confused by this, but let my guns through with no proof on my part that it was legal to do so.
Tomorrow should be interesting as we go to Rhodes, and I'm told the Greeks can be a bit different.

[zml342]

I was wondering if anyone knows TSA's and/or airline companies' (not sure of the plural possessive form...may have to post that question in the grammar thread) policy on traveling with airsoft and replica guns. Do they need to be declared or can they be placed in the suitcase and slide through security?

[JFK]

I was wondering if anyone knows TSA's and/or airline companies' (not sure of the plural possessive form...may have to post that question in the grammar thread) policy on traveling with airsoft and replica guns. Do they need to be declared or can they be placed in the suitcase and slide through security?

They do not have to be declared. I put a note that says "This is not a firearm" with my contact info. They will search your bag, and they will call you if you don't declare it. I have also declared airsoft just as an easy thing and treat it like a firearm.

There is no science or logic to TSA. What ever you do it will be wrong. Just give yourself time.

[ToddG]

No airsoft, but I've been scolded for trying to declare my SIRT pistol and I've also been detained for failing to declare it. Now, like JFK, I attach a note that says "THIS IS NOT A REAL GUN" in big letters. Which seems to work. Which is sort of scary...

[Slavex]

Anyone flying to Greece this year for the IPSC World Shoot got to see just how messed up security procedures can get. I don't think anyone out of the 1200 or so competitors who attended got treated the same way by Greek officials. Some got charge money to have their guns put on planes, others didn't, some had to remove ammo and send it on it's own, along with the guns, or not. Some people had to remove mags and do the same. It was a gong show of Big Top Circus proportions.