In 2008 I was returning from Zim with my .470 N.E. and .416 Rigby. I did not bring any ammunition back. Cleared customs with no issues and then was advised to take my rifles to the domestic counter and recheck them there to my home destination. I was stopped on my way to the domestic terminal (a short walk that did not require leaving the airport) by a NY transit cop who told me that if I left the international terminal with the rifles I would be arrested for violating the Sullivan law. I showed him my ID card from the law enforcement agency I had honorably served with and my current qualification card pursuant to HR 218/18USC 926 (c), The transit cop saiid that was only good for handguns and these were rifles, again threatening me with arrest. Finally, an NYPD Sergeant came by, asked me to come with him and he walked me to the domestic counter and assisted in getting my rifles checked in to my home destination.
I will never transit the JFK airport with rifles again, Quite frankly, I can see no good reason to ever go to NYC in the first place, though I have carried a handgun there previously with no issues.
In the early 1960's my parents were divorced and lived on opposite coasts. I lived on the East coast and my father on the West coast. When I would travel to the west coast I would bring my .30/06 Winchester Model 70 with me. I carried it in a padded. zipper case and handed it to the stewardess who would put it in the pilot's coat closet and hand it back to me when we reached our destination. No muss, no fuss, no runs, no hits, no errors and no men left on base. A far cry from the PITA we sometimes face today.
En route, we would be given the ground speed, the wind speed, wind direction, the current time, and distance to the Alamo. If you got the time, within a minute, that we were abeam the Alamo, you were given a bottle of champagne. It was not a complex calculation and more often than not, despite being only 14 years old, I would disembark the aircraft with my Winchester Model 70 and a bottle of champagne. It was a far simpler time! And BTW, God bless National Airlines!
