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Type Of Bag For Airline Travel With A Firearm.

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
I fly with my pistol pretty regularly.
If you omit the TSA lock or otherwise try to keep them out of your bag, they are going to either cut the lock off or call you back to the luggage check...

The actual hard-sided bag containing your firearm does NOT need a TSA lock! From TSA's website, with the relevant wording bolded:

The key regulatory requirements to transporting firearms, firearm parts or ammunition in checked baggage are:

* You must declare all firearms to the airline during the ticket counter check-in process.
* The firearm must be unloaded.
* The firearm must be in a hard-sided container. [This does not say by itself. You can pack other stuff that you don't want the TSA to have routine access to packed in there.]
* The container must be locked. A locked container is defined as one that completely secures the firearm from access by anyone other than you. [A TSA lock does not meet this definition.] Cases that can be pulled open with little effort do not meet this criterion. The pictures provided here illustrate the difference between a properly packaged and an improperly packaged firearm.
* We recommend that you provide the key or combination to the security officer if he or she needs to open the container. You should remain in the area designated by the aircraft operator or TSA representative to take the key back after the container is cleared for transportation. If you are not present and the security officer must open the container, we or the airline will make a reasonable attempt to contact you. If we can't contact you, the container will not be placed on the plane. Federal regulations prohibit unlocked gun cases (or cases with broken locks) on aircraft. [They will NOT break the lock. If the TSA wants inside that bag, you open the bag and are present during inspection, or the bag does not fly!]
* You must securely pack any ammunition in fiber (such as cardboard), wood or metal boxes or other packaging that is specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition.
* You can't use firearm magazines/clips for packing ammunition unless they completely and securely enclose the ammunition (e.g., by securely covering the exposed portions of the magazine or by securely placing the magazine in a pouch, holder, holster or lanyard).
* You may carry the ammunition in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as long as you pack it as described above.
* You can't bring black powder or percussion caps used with black-powder type firearms in either your carry-on or checked baggage.

If the TSA agents do not follow these procedures, they are breaking federal law and are subject to criminal sanctions!

Conclusion: Your container MUST be locked with a NON-TSA lock. You may pack anything in that container that can lawfully be placed in checked luggage. The TSA agents get essentially one crack at looking at that luggage--while you are present and can open and resecure your container with that non-TSA lock.

Cite to authority. Personal experience is great--until you deal with someone who knows what the laws and regulations actually say. If a TSA screener gives you flak about a non-TSA lock, point them to their own web page and advise them that cutting off that lock will violate federal law.
 
Last edited:

Daddyo

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2008
Messages
250
Location
Plymouth, MN, ,
I stand corrected.
This same page a couple months ago had a big notice that TSA locks were now acceptable and preferred.
These things change often.
I see that you can now also carry loaded magazines somehow or other. I'll have to figure that out as it would save a lot of time on arrival.
My fault for not rechecking the rules.
 

MarlboroLts5150

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2009
Messages
407
Location
San Antonio
I see that you can now also carry loaded magazines somehow or other. I'll have to figure that out as it would save a lot of time on arrival.

TSA's rules have always allowed loaded mags, as long as the ammo is completely covered. The airlines, OTOH, don't allow it. Southwest I believe is the only airline whose ammo rules mimic the TSA's.
 

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
I stand corrected.
This same page a couple months ago had a big notice that TSA locks were now acceptable and preferred.
These things change often.
I see that you can now also carry loaded magazines somehow or other. I'll have to figure that out as it would save a lot of time on arrival.
My fault for not rechecking the rules.

They probably do change the rules regularly. That's the downside of regulation versus law. Law is hard to change, and folks get a lot of warning. Regs change too fast and too easily, and those who change regs don't answer to We the People.

The upside of the current regs is that you can keep TSA completely out of your luggage--except when you are present--by putting a firearm in every bag and following all the firearm rules, including using a non-TSA lock.

You just have to be sure that you're legal on the other end of the flight.
 

petrophase

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
300
Location
Rapid City, South Dakota, USA
I recently flew from Rapid to Boise with a plastic hard-sided case in my soft luggage. The plastic case was locked with non-tsa locks, the luggage with a tsa lock. Check in, declaration, etc., all went smoothly. I transported my cartridges in their original packaging, mags empty.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
The bag needs to be big enough to fit your Fundamental Human Rights, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and your Dignity.

Because you sure as hell can't take any of THOSE things through a TSA checkpoint...

+5

This is classic, and needs to go national. It can apply to any luggage, not just a gun case.
 
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