Firearm in checked baggage when flying..

[blume357]

seems they can't every leave things alone.... according to the folks at the airport (Delta) now when you check a firearm your bag will not come out on the baggage claim belt but will be taken to the lost luggage claim room of your airline....

I checked my Ruger LC9 last week to fly to Bozeman... No problem except the person at the counter did not inform me of this and so when we landed I stood there and waited until all the bags had come out and around a few times before going over the the lost luggage place.... I knew my bag was on the plane because I check that with the Delta Bag track site.... while I was standing in line a person from the airport came over and asked me if I was Mr. Blume because he had my bag and just needed to see my I.D. The he told me of the new rule.

Now for the even sillier part... So, we get home last night .... Greenville Spartanburg airport and I am over by the Delta Luggage place.... Guy comes through the back door with my bag and takes it into the room where some Delta guy, who I can tell does not really want to be working at 11:30 on a Saturday night, is doing something on the computer for a guy, he sees my bag looks at me and tells me he'll get to me in a minute... there are two ladies after the first guy... So I stand around for 10 minutes (might have been 5, hard to judge at that time of night when you want to get home)... he finally gets through with the guy and gets up and goes in the back with my bag and comes back with some big nylon wire ties and straps up my checked bag with them and then ask for my I.D. I show him, he checks the name on the bag and says okay and lets me have it. The ladies in front of me had told him to get me first and so I thanked them... I can't figure out the logic of the wire ties.... all I had to do was slide them over to the side and I could still open my bag... but here is the real part.... if I could not slide them over how was I supposed to get them off since I did not have a sharp object on me? They were all in the checked bag... Oh, and they did not do this in Bozeman.

Checking a firearm had gotten pretty easy until this last hoop* .... and I'm headed to the Sig Academy in about 3 weeks and have to take a couple firearms....
*The last couple of times I've done this... the person at the counter just ask me the questions about if the gun is unloaded, in a hard box that is locked and the ammo is secure.... they don't want to look at all.. So now I just unload in the parking lot and lock the pistol and mags in the box and secure in my bag... leave my bag unlocked until I sign the unloaded firearm tag and put that in the bag with the box. For those that have not done this the only thing the airline person ask is that you stay in the lobby for about 10 minutes in case the TSA people x-raying or microwaving your bag need to search it... seems then they will call you to the back to 'help'. This has never happened to me but did a friend of mine. Last time we flew together he said he wished they'd do that again because after they searched his checked bag.. they then walked him through the back of the airport (short cut that bypassed the TSA security check) and directly to his gate.

Anywho, it seems it is always an adventure.

 

[GunnyGene]

Next time ship everything via UPS & fly wearing only a jock strap, and no luggage. :mrgreen:

 

[Mus408]

Last time we took a flight was 2009 and the way things are today...that was the last time.
If I can't drive there I just don't go!

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I fly less and less now that I live in the lower 48. Seems like the airlines have an investment in stepping on their d***. Others are leading but Delta appears to be trying to catch up. Not sure what the glammer is in Pi$$ing off your customers but they all are working on it. Flying back to Alaska in August so I'll probably experience their "love" of firearms again. In the past this hasn't been an issue. It was the shooting in a Florida airport and someone who has no clue how to think installed these new regulations (probably and antigunner who was looking for an opportunity) .

 

[gramps]

Last time we took a flight was 2009 and the way things are today...that was the last time.
If I can't drive there I just don't go!

Ditto, except my last flight was in 2012. TSA is out of control. Israel has a much better way to screen I am told.
gramps

 

[bogus bill]

In 1974 I flew home when a favorite uncle died. He was a bachelor and I inherited quite a bit of stuff. He had shown me a hand made knife with notch's on it that he took off a kraut (he was 82nd AB). I thought I would bring it back with me and put it in a small locked metal box of his medals etc with my carry on. I got a call to go to the counter to open the box.
They went ape enough to call a old man guard over. He wanted ME to carry the knife in MY hand over to another loading gate THROUGH a crowd of people to the baggage line.
I suggested HE carry it. Nope, he insisted I carry it. I didn't bother to tell him I worked security myself or indicate I thought his procedure wrong. So I walk through the crowd with the pig sticker in my hand with the old man following. I kind of enjoyed it.

 

[Kevin]

We fly often, but I haven't flown with a firearm for about 10 years. It sounds like things have changed. About the only thing I would say is to fly with the same airline each time. They just tend to treat frequent fliers much nicer. It sounds like you are doing this. Pretty cool you are going to these gun training events. Give us an update after it's over please.

 

[blume357]

I was resistant to flying for a number of years.. not only the firearm thing but just being huddled into a mass and treated like a sheep..... But I got talked into going to the Front Site training facility two and half years ago and had to fly into Las Vegas to meet my buddies and then drive out to the dessert.... it was really not that bad and the firearms check was simple and easy. This latest little thing is really not a problem... think about it... you don't have to stand in the crowd and try and grab your bag as is tumbles by. And I've always thought the baggage claim system was ripe for a thief to just be there and grab a random bag. As for the rest of it... including the TSA security... still a pain but the getting the precheck... makes it easier and faster (yes, I had to pay the government $85 for the privilege). And I'm fixing to confess to y'all the real reason that flying is not half as bad as it used to be... I only fly first class.

 

[Slyk Willy]

I fly regularly with my firearm and found that the airlines are accommodating. I've not had to wait for by bag at the end of my flight, it's always been on the carrousel. I, also thought there should be a more secure way to retrieve a bag w/firearm.
I'd like to hear about the result of this training event.

 

[Johnnu2]

I just won't fly commercially anymore; they treat you like poop and take all your money. Of course, I'm OLD and don't really need to go anywhere that I haven't been before... I do remember checking a rifle and handgun in at a major NJ airport back in the 70's. The clerk asked me to open the case so he could check if they were unloaded. When I opened the case, the place cleared-out (and remember this was in 'the old days'). With no other passengers around, I got the royal treatment ). Oh yeah, the clerk had a problem because he had NO IDEA how to check to see if the guns were unloaded. I was gonna let him stew but then I realized that I would still be standing there today waiting for the appropriate 'officials' to clear me. So I showed him that they were empty and he was happy (of course he had no idea what exactly I was showing him).
J

 

[contender]

I have cut my flying commercially way back. I only do it when absolutely necessary. I do go to the SHOT Show,,, but that's about it anymore. Miss Penny refuses to fly because of the stupidity of the way they treat their "customers."
I get it,,, they have a need for security. But it could be done differently AND effectively. The screening process,,, is a joke,,, and the more a person "looks" like a terrorist,,, the less likely they are to be screened or searched for fear of "profiling." And when it comes to firearms,,, as noted,,, MANY airline employees are not educated about them,, and that creates even more problems.
Theft.
Airline employees are supposed to be cleared by a security clearance,,, but theft occurs often. I have had my checked bag opened & inspected EVERY year for the last 6 years as I return from SHOT. I use a duffle bag type,,, secured with only zip ties,, and NOTHING of serious value in it. Once the airline sent it to a different airport & it had to be delivered to my home. Cost them a lot to do that. But every year,, I see it's been opened & inspected. I find the little TSA card explaining how & why they are allowed to do so.

I know this. If I ever have to fly with a firearm,,, I will get a separate smaller checked bag,,, put the firearm(s) in their proper case,,, in that bag,,, and insure it for at least $10,000 or more. Let them worry about getting it to me properly.