Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lesson learned re checking handgun luggage on flight

Friends:

Ran into a little situation with Delta Airlines checking my handgun in Great Falls MT for my return trip home. I had the gun in the manufacturers hard-sided plastic box with padlock securely attached in the designated holes. This was the OEM box that came with the gun when it was purchased. I declared it as an unloaded firearm all per proper protocol. I had previously checked it with no problems on the outbound trip so was not anticipating any issues.

The ticketing agent then slightly pried open the two halves of the case aside a half inch or so (with the padlock still attached) and declared it was not in compliance, because if she wanted to she could touch the gun with her finger and therefore I couldn’t check it.

Prior to this trip I had carefully reviewed the applicable rules and regulations:

Delta Rules:

• Firearms must be packed in a locked manufacturer's hard-sided container specifically designed for the firearm, a locked hard–sided gun case or a locked hard-sided piece of luggage. ..(emphasis Delta’s)

Check

TSA rules:

• Firearms must be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container and transported as checked baggage only. As defined by 49 CFR 1540.5
(3) (c) (2) (iii) The firearm is carried in a hard-sided container; and
(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the passenger retains the key or combination.

Check

Everything I had done was fully in compliance, AFAIK.

The Delta Agent then explained that any ability to access the firearm whatsoever was a no-no. Luckily, I had another lockable case that met the spec that I had been using to hold my separately secured ammo and cleaning kit, etc. So I was able to switch the handgun into that container and lock it, then board the plane. The Delta agent was gracious enough, but seemed to have a standard that was above the airline’s own rules.

Upon return home I looked at the rules again. In a separate section covering rifles and shotguns (not handguns) it states that “The case must completely secure the firearm from being accessed.”

Long story short, I was able to make the fight, but have since gone out and bought a very heavy duty case – much heavier duty than the OEM case, that locks with two padlocks.

Lesson learned, though. Inconsistent enforcement may lead to anxieties for the less-prepared (or lucky, in my case)

So for now at least I have the situation buttoned down for the next trip. Thought I’d share my experience though… FWIW

When I fly with any weapon, I always have a copy of their rules and regulations on me just for this reason.

Nice to hear you made it home safe.

Good information. Thank you.

I fly with a pelican type hardcase for my handgun

You take chances being a cheap ass.

It has always been a requirement that the lock actually closes the case and prevents it from opening. If she could touch the gun in the locked case it clearly was not " secured" and she was gracious about it... Impossible to fault her.

And different airlines have different rules. Some want the ammo and gun in the same case (Alaska) and most others want it in separate cases.

I fly a lot with firearms and also believe the agent was correct. If you can pry apart the edges of the box it is "NO GO"! Decent boxes are fairly inexpensive (Apache brand at Harbor Freight?), avoid the aggravation AND keep your guns secure.

And if youre one to just willy-nilly toss your rinky-dink case into your suitcase to freely bounce around....you're subject to have Andre'3000 and Big Boi pilfer it out of the luggage.


I cable lock my pelican to and thru two holes in my suitcase ribs and then back thru the pelican case, thru the magazine well and chamber of the weapon.

Unless some scumbag has a pair of 10" Kliens, they've got a clusterfugg ball of spaghetti cables to deal with.

Enough said. As others have stated, take a copy of the airlines' regs as well as TSA's. Then ask for a Supervisor and hopefully will be a male...

If anyone EVER bothers to go on youtube, there are many,many videos about this with several mentions of the no-go agent and being able to wedge fingers or a ball point pen into the case.

You can't be a Van Gogh listener.

And if that male knows the regs as well as the female agent he will shut him down also. And he should... If the case can open at all with the lock on, it fails their simple rule.

Nothing sexual about the rule and not at all ambiguous.

Get a good case, problem solved.

Get one of the GunVault or Bulldog cases for around $30 that has the cable that loops around your car seat. They are TSA approved and serve two purposes. I use mine when I go into a GFZ and have my gun with me.

I learned that leasson from a cuhnt that worked for Alaska Airlines. Bitch tried to tell me that my locked hard case had to be in a locked hard sided suit case. It's was in a full-sized backpack I was checking in. Of course according to AKAir's firearms rules nothing could be further from the truth.

I have no beef with the Delta ticketing agent in Great falls. At least she invested the effort and time into her due diligence (it wasn't some sort of disdainful negativity she articulated an objective standard and was polite about it ), That it differed from what I had read and thought compliant, is on me...I guess. .

Her viewpoint was different from the ticketing agent in Atlanta on my outbound flight,who passed muster on my case with whom I also find no fault (because I was within spec: "Manufacturers case").

More importantly is the lesson learned: beef it up! Hard case means you cant even pry it open, even a bit. And to do so avoids issues.

Got it.

All the above AND TSA guidelines also state that the Original Manufacturers Case the gun came in MAY not be sufficient to meet the guidelines of a secure locking case.

Yep!

I am forced to go on American Air Lines because Alaska doesn't use the Alexandria LA. airport. What brand and model of case should I get for my Model 66 S&W 4 inch? I have been traveling without problems on Alaska with a plastic Sig case left over from my days as a LEO. We are flying to Reno next month and planning to travel the hinterlands of Eastern California to Yosemite and further south to see the sequoias. You can't get a finger tip in the Sig case but you can get it open a very slight crack.

Just checked the one I bought for an upcoming trip, I think it fails if the agent tries hard enough.
They are the law and have ya by the short hairs at that point.

Along that line is a GI Duffel bag with TSA lock acceptable for checked baggage containing a properly secured pistol?
Seems as good as the backpack mentioned above.

I get the same Information from my professional contact in the airline industry.