Checked gun on Continental lossed or stolen

[FL450]

Heard on ABC 13 6 am news in Houston, man checked 45, ammo, mags on Continental from Denver to Houston. When he arrived in Houston his Gun was not there. The report did not elaborate if gun case was in side checked bag or not, it did say there was only one piece of checked luggage.
When are the airlines going to take responsibility and require ID or a matching bag tag to retrieve your weapons and/or luggage.
They were doing it for a while after 911, I guess its cheaper to pay for lost/stolen baggage than for labor.
The link is posted below

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=7597294" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jimlongley]

Shortly after 9/11 I started working for TSA, and in the more than three years I worked there I never once saw the airlines require any form of ID to retrieve any baggage, much less a checked gun.

I can't even imagine how they would administer such a program:

Special markings on the outside of the bag? Just asking for it to be stolen enroute; Special handling?

Not without special markings or some other logistical nightmare;

Requiring a boarding pass and ID to enter the baggage retrieval area? Well, that might work, and would certainly put a lot more jobs out there for bam bam and his minions to trumpet as success in creating jobs.

But consider this, most of the bags taken at the baggage claim area are taken by their rightful owners, and the few that go awry are generally honest mistakes, and there are no special markings allowed on bags containing guns, so it is very hard for thieves to target those specific bags. Most likely the bag was either just plain lost enroute, or some dishonest baggage handler somewhere got lucky fishing through bags.

It's possible that a TSA agent, or an airline ticket person, could be conspiring with someone in baggage to steal such things, it's not unheard of, but requiring ID at baggage claim is not going to put a stop to such things, and considering how many security hoops all of those people have to jump through, even preventing that would be tough.

[The Annoyed Man]

The report did not elaborate if gun case was in side checked bag or not, it did say there was only one piece of checked luggage.

Actually, I think it did say. He says He said that he worked one on one with the Continental employee. That employee watched him pack the gun into an aluminum case. They X-Rayed the case, then Mr. Gravois signed a log, and his ticket was stamped.

That sounds to me like the gun was shipped as checked baggage in a separate aluminum case, rather than inside his luggage. The gun case was the checked piece of luggage. I'm betting that, Denver to Houston, everything else he had was in carry-on luggage. It's not like it was a trip to Italy or something.

[Hoi Polloi]

I've been to US airports where you had to match luggage tags before exiting. Once you got your luggage at the carousel, they bottlenecked the outgoing traffic with those black fabric fence things and at the neck was an airport employee checking your carried luggage tag with the bag you took. It didn't take too long and I never heard people complain that they lost their tag in my time going through them.

I also heard many news reports of airport personnel stealing things out of checked baggage. I assumed that was the case here, not that someone else walked away with it once it was on the carousel.

[megs]

When I was a kid they used to check the baggage claim ticket but I haven't seen that in a long time.

[WildBill]

You know how they say that many bags look alike so be sure to check the your luggage tag? Once, I accidently took the wrong suitcase off the carousel in baggage claim in the Hong Kong airport. I didn't discover the mistake until I was through customs and on the street waiting for my driver.

What a nightmare. It took me almost two hours to return it and claim my suitcase. When I finally got back in the baggage claim area, I saw a guy patiently waiting for his suitcase. The owner of the suitcase seemed very happy when security brought the suitcase to him. He probably thought that the United Airlines people were incompetent. I didn't have the guts to apologize and tell that he had to wait all that time because of me.

[seniorshooteress]

When I "used to" fly all I ever took was a carry on: 2 reasons: Didn't want to wait around for my luggage at a carosel 2: lost/stolen luggage. I figured if I didn't have everything I needed in my carry on I would just buy it when I got to where I was going. If I found I needed more clothing, shoes etc than I had packed, bought more and UPS'd it back home the day I left. I don't intend on every going anywhere I need to fly to anymore. I never liked flying before 9/11, it was always an emergency-have to get there fast situation. I prefer to drive to my destination if time allows.

[witchdoctor575]

I have had 2 spyderco police model knives stolen out of my checked luggage. after the first one was stolen, I went to great lengths to hide my spyderco within the bag.... it too got snagged. Really doesn't surprise me that a gun would come up missing.

[rdcrags]

or some dishonest baggage handler somewhere got lucky fishing through bags.

I'm surprised that you seem surprised. I've always considered it a crapshoot that my checked valuables arrived intact.

[TXlaw1]

You know how they say that many bags look alike so be sure to check the your luggage tag?

All our checked luggage has a piece of thick scarlet yarn tied on the handles. Makes identification on the carousel much easier. After pulling it off, then I check the tag. Avoids misidentification.

[ELB]

I've been to US airports where you had to match luggage tags before exiting. Once you got your luggage at the carousel, they bottlenecked the outgoing traffic with those black fabric fence things and at the neck was an airport employee checking your carried luggage tag with the bag you took. It didn't take too long and I never heard people complain that they lost their tag in my time going through them.....

Me too. And one of the airports was San Antonio. They haven't done it recently, but it has been done in the past.

Bags are regularly burgled and stolen. About three years ago a western newspaper ran series of articles on it, and they had an online database showing the amount of theft at major airports around the country. This was based on government data. Unfortunately it didn't stay up long, and even the articles have long since been pulled. It was a significant amount of theft, dollarwise, including guns. In terms of number the percentage of number of bags, it was pretty small -- the amount of baggage shipped is enormous.

I will still take my chances checking my gun, but I make sure I have another at home, just in case...

[rm9792]

I have an access badge for Hobby and get to go into the bowels of the place. Your bags travel thru some alleyways and a lot of it has no cameras or personnel around. I was shocked first time in there going to one of the phone rooms. I had to step over one of the conveyor belts and the only lighting was some weak bulbs a ways away. No one could ever see if I pulled some nice bags off and rifled thru them. I actually dont check luggage anymore.

[eddieconcarne]

Here is a valuable website to bookmark, the ultimate detailed guide to flying with guns:
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1202384" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two more important links:
http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/Federal/Read.aspx?id=70" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/Federal/Read.aspx?id=59" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jimlongley]

or some dishonest baggage handler somewhere got lucky fishing through bags.

I'm surprised that you seem surprised. I've always considered it a crapshoot that my checked valuables arrived intact.

I don't know where you got the idea I was surprised, or were you referring to a different poster? I, having worked for TSA for more than three years, just assume that there are some dishonest baggage handlers and that they go through people's luggage with impunity because their co-workers are reluctant to "rat them out."

When TSA first started there were some dishonest screeners, but the rest of us were not bothered by turning them in at all.

[Keith B]

When TSA first started there were some dishonest screeners, but the rest of us were not bothered by turning them in at all.

Snitch!!!



I'm with you Jim. I can't understand co-workers not turning someone in if they are stealing. If nothing else, it will at potentially get an investigation started. This type of crime is totally inexcusable IMO. When you put your trust in baggage handlers, airline attendants, bell-hops at hotels and car valet's, you should be able to trust that they will take care of your items and not steal something.