Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Interesting event at delta ticket counter

I'm taking a quick trip to RSA for my business. I checked in with my rifle as usual.

The lady at the counter asked for my RSA gun permit to allow me to enter the country with a firearm!

WOW..... I've done this a few times as you might know. How could I be caught this far off guard with some new requirement!

I politely informed her that was not the regulation, and that the permits could be issued upon arrival or if preferred ahead of time through a permit service.

She called and spoke to somebody that backed her up and she said I need to see your permit. ....... This is ridiculous .....

So I decided I would give her my stamped US customs 4457 form. ( it's not even an RSA document)

"I said here is my gun permit" stamped. She looked it over and said okay good. Now you can take it to TSA. They ( TSA)wiped the lock for explosives, never opened the case and sent it down the conveyor.

Just a suggestion, keep a copy of your SAP doc's with you. At the gate you may need to show that your permits are applied for or already complete.

Funny stuff eh!

Good job on the quick thinking!!! You never know with TSA!

Eric

Always a good idea to have the airlines firearms regs printed out so you can educate the counter personnel on what their company's policy is on traveling with firearms.
Ticket counter folks are notoriously ignorant and TSA is as bad or worse! Last time I had to open a bolt action rifle for the TSA agent so he could verify it was unloaded.

I just got back from So Africa but when my trip started the lady at the Delta counter asked me why I was going and when I said "hunting" she said "cool, sounds like a good time".

I agree that was quick thinking on your part. I didn't have to open my case upon leaving, or when I transfered upon getting back but the arrival back into Atlanta was a real PIA. Took 2-1/2hours at least.

I've had a few run ins with airlines. Air France code share with Delta out of ATL to Paris pulled me out of the boarding line and asked for the French Document/Permit. There is no such thing, and told the gate agent I didn't need one. He told me that the pilot would not transport the case without one, and that was the pilot's call.

Rather than blow up, I told him I needed to be in Amsterdam the following night, and what flight could he get me on. He switched our tickets, and it worked out. It was very strange.

I had another returning from a trip to RSA and Zambia (pre 911) that tops them all. I flew out of ATL to RSA, was issued a permit for RSA, hunted a few days, had that permit stamped as I left RSA. Got to Zambia, got their permit. Hunted, had the exit permit and visa, and flew to LaGuardia. Passed through Customs, showed my 4457 and entered the USA no problem, until....

I tried to enter the Domestic Terminal at LaGuardia. Those who have been there might know you have to exit the front door of the International terminal and carry our stuff about 100 yards and enter the front door of the Domestic terminal. I entered the terminal and was faced with putting ALL the bags through X-ray as you entered the terminal. Strange, but it is New York. The two under trained security guys running the x-ray (pre TSA) stood there while I dumped my rifle case on the belt and freaked when they saw the silhouette of two rifles.

"Where is your NYC permit for these?"

"I don't need one, I'm in transit from International to ATL."

"You can't have guns without a permit here."

"I'm in transit, I don't need a permit, get it"

No, they didn't get. It was early Sunday morning, no supervisor around and this conversation was going nowhere fast. One gets on his walkie talkie and calls a cop over.

"Where is your gun permit for NYC?"

Not this again.

"I'm in transit, I don;t need one."

"Where is your permit from your town?"

Oh brother, now I'm getting steamed at the incompetence. I pull out my 4457, my RSA licenses, my Zambia licenses and my visas.

"Ok, here you go. Here is my permit to exit the USA (4457), here is my permit to enter RSA with guns (RSA license), here is the exit stamp to leave RSA. Here is my license to enter Zambia with guns, here is my visa and stamp to exit Zambia with guns. Here is my license to re-enter RSA with guns and the stamp to leave. Here (again) is my 4457 to enter the UNITED STATES with guns. Now all I have to do is get my stuff and walk 60 feet over to THAT Delta counter and check in and be gone."

They milled around for a few minutes and Supervisor arrived and went through an abbreviated version of the same speech. In the end, he had one of security guys walk me over to Delta and check my stuff and I was away.

That prompted me to photoshop the Great Seal of the United States and make my own "American Firearm License" with gov't type gibberish superimposed over it with my signature and Approved by the Sec of the Second Amendment, Charlton Heston. It has worked with dumbasses, and especially in Zim when a low level functionary came to shake me down for a bribe.

It is more or less like this, 3 X 5" laminated in plastic. I printed some fake security seal for the rear and that was that. No more hassels.



United States Permit to keep and bear arms confirmed upon


Hatari_____________________________

This day ______________, 20_____


Secretary of the 2nd Amendment______________________
Charlton Heston

You just KNOW every single one involved was either female, democrat or both...

Delta has an app that's tracks your bags in flight.

Both our checked bags are loaded on the flight already however my rifle case is not. The saga continues.

The tracking shows it is in Atlanta, but for some reason not on the flight!

Oh, just using this format to make some notes.

On your boarding pass above your name is your FF number. If it's not printed there, go to the gate agent and have them verify it's in your record. It's probably not in the record if it's not on the boarding pass.

This is for delta. It's sometimes a pain to get credit for travel after the fact. It's much easier to do it at the gate or ticket counter.

The luggage app is pretty cool. It shows they just loaded the gun case!

JJ: they load the guns last.

JJ so much for tracking, my rifle made it to Atlanta but my bag stayed in Jo'berg. When it got in they took it to the hotel in Las Vegas that I stayed the night before and left from (I told them that) and then they had to ship it to Boise. They wanted to deliver it to me a 2:00 AM. I said after all this I can wait till 9:00 am.

Takes them a while to pick through and take out what they want.

What city did this occur in? Thanks

I just got home today myself from RSA. This go-round, there were no gun or ammo issues, but my camera was stolen in Kimberley (or Tambo) when I gate-checked my carry-on bag. Fortunately I'd transferred all of my photos onto a thumb drive the night before in Kimberley. Grrrrrrrr!

Hatari:

Had a similar experience at JFK in 2010. I had flown SAA from Joberg to NYC via Dakar. NYPD threatened arrest me if I left the international terminal to check in at the domestic terminal with my rifles, claiming it was a violation of the infamous Sullivan Law to do so. Finally, a sympathetic NYPD officer walked me and my rifles to the domestic terminal.

As a result, I will never fly into JFK with rifles again. From then on it's always been the Delta 777 nonstop from and into ATL. Never a problem there.

Supposedly, AA is going to soon start a routing from Miami (MIA) to Capetown, nonstop in a 777. Never had a problem traveling with firearms via AA through MIA.

Ah! I think it was JFK and not LaGuardia. I always fly to LaGuardia from ATL, but now that you mention it, JFK is the one with two separate terminals. Thanks for the reminder.

I heard horror stories about JFK but when we went through on a trip it was one of the smoothest. They did make us pick up our guns, immediately take them outside and check them with SAA�couldn't walk through the terminal with them�.
Skycap handled it for us on the sidewalk while one of NYPDs finest stood by. Never figured out if he was there to protect NY from us, or to protect us from NY

On my first trip to Africa I went through JFK. No problem going out, but when trying to check into Delta's domestic terminal coming back the young woman on the X-ray machine went "EEK!" when she saw a rifle inside my case, despite me already telling her there was a firearm inside. Two Port Authority cops showed up with their hands on their handguns, and proceeded to quiz me about my gun license, which I didn't have of course, since we don't need one in Montana. So we had to fill out a 2-page form, which took quite a while.

My plan was to check my luggage, then go into Manhattan where my sister was living and have punch with her, since it was 8 hours until the flight home. They informed me I couldn't do that. I said, "What? Not have lunch with my sister?"

They said, no you can't check your luggage and then leave the terminal, even though this was a long time before 9/11. I could either leave the case with them for something like $15 an hour, or take it with me. So we agreed that I would go into Manhattan with my .375, but a skycap had to carry it out to the cab stand.

So I ended up walking down a sidewalk in Manhattan with a gun case holding a .375, which apparently most people thought was a trombone. My sister said, "You're probably glad to be back in America!" I said, "I'm not there yet!"

When I went back another young woman went EEK!, and two other Port authority cops showed up with their hands on their handguns, then helped me fill out the same form. When I landed in Montana that night I was very glad to be back in America.

Recently flew to Namibia and back through JFK with no problems.

Picked up our rifles after the flight from Austin and went to the motel. Next morning, arrived and had skycap take our bags/guns. Best move we made doing that, since the ticket counter wasn't open and the lines were 3-4 wide and a hundred yards long. Best $20 I've spent. Skycap guy went to the gate, chatted with the folks there, then to the front of the line and unloaded us and told us they would open soon.

Got our tickets and the TSA/NYPD had us open the cases there on the floor and checked the 4457's, then walked us to the baggage area to deposit guns.

On the way back going through customs was easier than I've ever had it traveling without guns. The customs guys were more interested in what type of rifles than anything else. We had to go into a room to check forms and such.

One customs guy was very deliberate and wanting to make a point about making sure the guns were unloaded. Opened the case and he saw the Merkel double and says, "Oh, one of those", then picks it up and asks how to open it. He has his finger on the rear trigger, and not thinking, I barked at him to get his finger off the trigger while opening. He took it well and didn't say anything else.

Then he opened the other case and saw the Winchester 1985 in .405 Win., and says again, "OH, one of those. I've seen one of those before." But still has to have a wee bit of help to open it up. The rest went as well, especially since my buddy had a bolt gun with the bolt out, which made things easier, and his double was now familiar.

Never had it so easy Traveling With Guns, which, by the way, is who we used for our travel arrangements. Steve and company were great.

Yep, same story.