Flying for first time

[harrycallahan]

Soon I will take a trip, fly, with my gun. I have researched with the TSA and the airline and have purchased the case and locks and with some luck we will both arrive together.

[apostate]

Bon voyage. I used to have quite the collection of orange tags.

[ajwakeboarder]

wow, that is beautiful. Hope you have a good trip

[Shinesintx]

Where ya flying out of and where ya flying to? I only ask because I fly out of LUV a lot. Oklahoma and New Mexico are daily gun friendly. Checking it in to Denver was a bit of a PITA.

[JMPJr]

It'll be fine.

If you search the forums you'll find lots of information as well as stories about airport experiences. I've flown many times with firearms and it seems to flow differently every time. The number one piece of advice I can give you is to be as familiar as possible with the rules, laws and regulations of the airline you're flying, TSA and all cities/states you may find yourself (this includes layovers - what happens if you get stuck somewhere). I used to carry two copies of the airline and TSA regs with me (one for me, one for anyone else that may find it useful) but I now just keep the websites bookmarked on my phone and will hand it to anyone that may need or want to read it. I know it should be, since it's the same everywhere, but surely the biggest suprise for me has been how uninformed employees can be with their own policies. Also the same as everywhere, there's very differing reactions when a customer knows more about a company or agency policy than the employee. It saddens me to see how many airport employees clearly have no experience dealing with people traveling legally with firearms, because I know there are more firearm owners in the US than the impression given when checking firearms at an airport. It shouldn't be as intimidating as it is to fly with guns.

Again, search the forums for more information. Be familiar with airline, TSA and locale (city, state etc) instructions and you'll be fine.

That's a great lookin' pistol you've got! Let us know how it goes.

[MolonLabe]

Do you mind if I ask where you got those grips? Love them.

[Cjwglock19]

Scares me to death sending my gun as checked baggage. Even though it should be secure.

[Jim Beaux]

Scares me to death sending my gun as checked baggage. Even though it should be secure.

I agree, I think I would leave that beauty at home and get a roscoe to fly with.

[ELB]

Do check the rules of the airline. TSA rules allow ammo in the same box as the gun, but some airlines do not. The ammo does not have to be in a locked box, so even at the last second you could pull it out and throw in your suitcase, but in those instances I like to put my ammo, knife, other sharp objects into a dop kit where I can find it all quickly at the other end.

Have a safe trip.

[JALLEN]

The one thing to always do is know what gear you have on you and in your luggage, exactly and at all times. I went through security at San Antonio a few years ago, the one time I traveled without a handgun, but had 3 magazines full of Gold Dots in my carry on. I figured I was going to be perp-walked out of the airport handcuffed in disgrace but actually it was not so bad.

Luckily I am a dignified and inordinately jovial and responsible fellow, all my story checked out, and after the police completed their investigation the TSA fellows ended up helping me get a hard case to transport the magazines and ammo in, and even got the airline to retrieve my luggage so I could put the items in the checked bags. I didn't even miss my flight. Of course, a week or so later I received a hate letter from the FAA, demanding an explanation. I knew from years as a private pilot that you can always bewilder the FAA by telling the truth, since it is seldom attempted. Sure enough, after several weeks of head scratching, trying to poke holes in my account, they couldn't make out how the security of western civilization was endangered and contented themselves with extracting $200 from me. Perhaps they were embarrassed that I had flown out of San Diego with the same stuff undetected a few days before.

How many knew that the gift shop at San Antonio airport carries hard sided pistol cases in a variety of sizes?

Anyway, the point is to be sure you know what you have and where. It can be no laughing matter, with very serious consequences to mess up.

[harrycallahan]

Do you mind if I ask where you got those grips? Love them.

they came with the gun.

[harrycallahan]

Scares me to death sending my gun as checked baggage. Even though it should be secure.

I did think about carrying my revolver, but even tho its much older, it was my fathers and I couldn't take a chance on that.