I support your hardheaded actions. I frequently find myself tilting at windmills for the sport of it.canvasbck wrote:As an update, I made a few phone calls. On each of my calls, I informed the person at the other end that my intention was to secure my firearm in a locked container and my ammunition in another locked container inside my checked bag. I would be declaring the firearm and ammunition upon checkin in Houston. Upon my arrival in Newark, I was going to claim my bags and proceed directly to the rental counter and then place my bags, including the fiream container, in the trunk of our rental car. We would be travelling directly to PA without so much as a food stop. Our return trip would involve driving the rental directly from the state line to the airport. We would then be checking in and declaring the firearm at the Newark Airport.
My first call was to the New Jersey State Police. I let them know my intended actions. The officer on the other end said that if I followed that procedure, I would be just fine and not violating any laws. He encouraged me to follow up with the TSA just to make sure that I was OK with their rules.
I then contacted the TSA. The agent that I spoke with was very helpfull and made sure I understood the requirements for the firearms case. He stated that I would be good to go as long as a followed the things that I laid out.
My last call was to the NY/NJ Port Authority. This is where the brick wall existed. The officer who I was eventually referred to stated that "There is no legal way for you to possess a handgun in the state of New Jersey". I asked him about the federal law regarding interstate transport (18 USC 926A). He repeated that there is no legal way to possess a handgun in NJ. Then went on to tell me all about the Plaxico Burress case. He stated that if I were travelling in the rental car and got pulled over, I would be going to jail. I told him that I was now confused, I believed that as long as the firearm was unloaded and not accessable, that I was legal to transport it through the state. At this point he stated that if the Port Authority is called when I go to check the bags, that I was going to be arrested. Period end of story. He acknowledeged that I may beat the charges, but I would be getting arrested and my firearm confiscated. He informed me that his advice to anyone wishing to travel through NJ with a firearm is to ship the firearm to your destination and do not bring it with you because you will be going to jail. I thanked him for his time, and waited until after I hung up to begin cursing at the phone.
Now I'm going to spend an extra $200 dollars to fly into Philly.
I knew how this was going to turn out before I started calling, but I'm hardheaded and I will make the offending authority tell me directly that they are going to violate federal law in an effort to infringe on my 2A rights.
