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gregthehand wrote:I'm not sure how. I just recently flew to Florida and back with one and they didn't put anything special on the outside of my bag. So I'm not sure how that would help them keep better track of it. Furthermore going to Florida it almost made me late as there were about four people checking on in and the TSA agent was not moving too fast.

When planning to check a gun, I suggest arriving at the airport a minimum of an extra 45 minutes to an hour earlier than you would otherwise. There are lots of steps where delays are frequently encountered. Among them are:

1. Ticket agents who don't know how to handle a checked firearm and can't find anybody who does.
2. An airline or TSA escort person between the ticket counter and the TSA baggage screening point is busy, having coffee, or otherwise unavailable for an extended period of time
3. A hand search of your bag at the TSA baggage screening area. Many will do this because they just have to look at what they could easily see on the x-ray. If there are other bags to be searched before yours, this can take a while.

sgerry wrote:#7 on their list:


http://consumerist.com/2010/06/top-10-t ... -butt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


7. Pack a Starter Pistol (or Actual Gun) to Protect Valuables
This one's a bit odd, but Lifehacker says that by packing a starter pistol or bona fide handgun in the same bag as your most precious cargo (and of course declaring and filling out the necessary form) will help ensure that said luggage is given some extra attention when it's being carted around and stowed. But as the site says, "Buying a firearm, even a starter pistol, is nothing to take too lightly, and if you're in a rush, it's probably not the most efficient way through security."

Really?

I think this suggestion contains more imagination than fact.

The only "extra attention" I've ever seen is an escort to walk you between the ticket counter and the baggage screening point, and that only happens sometimes. Other than a TSA hand search at the checked bag X-ray machine, there's no special treatment I'm aware of after lots of flights with guns in checked baggage. The bags with guns are not supposed to be marked in any unique way on the outside, and they are handled, stowed on the plane and delivered on the carousel just like any other luggage.