Top 10 Tips..Air Travel...Buy a gun

[sgerry]

#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?

[gregthehand]

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.

[Excaliber]

#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.

[HighVelocity]

Guns get stolen out of checked baggage all the time. FYI.

[Excaliber]

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]

Ive read so many gun horror stories, when i saw this i had to post it.

Shows you how uneducated some of the "sheep" are.

[jester]

The rumor has been going around the internet for at least 4 years. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/24/se ... cked-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Rex B]

One possible advantage I can see.
If you arrive at destination and your luggage appears to be lost, then I bet that informing the lost luggage dept that your luggage contains a firearm might just move you up the priority list.

[The Annoyed Man]

I was listening to Gun Talk on KSKY just yesterday on my way home from church. They had a caller on the air who had an absolute horror story to tell about flying to South Africa for a safari, with a muzzle loader rifle.

The guy said that he uses the more modern propellant pellets rather than black powder in his muzzle loaders, and those pellets are not classified as an explosive the way black powder is because they are chemically similar to smokeless powder - which I assume is correct. Anyway, he said that another hunter, who appears to be an idiot, said that he was tired of this guy "breaking the law by bringing explosives on airplanes all the time," and announced publicly that he was going to report the caller to the FBI when he tried to board his plane for he safari.

Sure enough, that's what he did. When the caller checked in at the airport to declare his rifle and the ammunition, he was met by FBI agents who confiscated this propellent pellets. Apparently, there is no real precedent on this stuff, so the FBI was flying by the seat of its pants, so to speak. However, the caller had been warned by someone that the other guy was going to do this to him, so he was advised by a friend to empty some unfired shot shells and hide some of the ammo pellets inside the hulls and re-crimp them closed.

Also sure enough, although they confiscated his propellent pellets which were in an unopened box, they let through the shot shells which were in a box that had been opened. When he got to South Africa, the airline had lost his luggage, and he reported for a paid-for safari with no gun, no ammo, and no clothes except the clothes on his back. He never recovered any of it until after his return to the U.S.

And to add insult to injury, when he got back to the U.S., there was a summons from a federal prosecutor for violating federal law with regard to the transportation of explosives on an airliner - despite the fact that the FBI had confiscated what they regarded (inaccurately) to be explosives, and their having allowed through what they (accurately) judged to be legal to fly with. He has retained an attorney and an expert witness, and the NRA has agreed to review his case and help in his defense if they can. He is facing a federal grand jury this week, I believe, and if successfully prosecuted, a potential LIFE sentence. And as it is, whether he is indicted or not, and found guilty or not, he is going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in defending himself, all on the word of another gun owner who calls himself a hunter, and who is ignorant about the law; and because federal prosecutors have been dying for an opportunity under this administration to restrict the movement of firearms across state lines, and in and out of the country.

Furthermore, if these propellant pellets are deemed ultimately to be "explosives," and if they are in fact chemically similar to smokeless powder (and again, I have no idea if they are or not), then look for the next step to be that you may travel with your firearm, but not with any ammunition for it... ...at least until we throw these bums out of office and elect some new bums to replace them.

EDITED TO ADD: I make no warrant as to the authenticity of the caller's information in the first place. As someone pointed out to me via PM, if all of it is true, then that caller is probably ignoring his lawyer's advice by going public with it.

But, if it is true, then gun owners who travel with ammunition may be facing future difficulties. Anyway, I posted it because it was an interesting call to listen to, and it pertains to the topic somewhat.

[kragluver]

You are correct - BP substitutes are considered flammables, but not explosives - just like smokeless powder. BP was reclassified shortly after 9-11 which is why so many gun shops now don't bother carrying real BP - they would be required to have special storage facilities, etc.

[karder]

Anyway, he said that another hunter, who appears to be an idiot, said that he was tired of this guy "breaking the law by bringing explosives on airplanes all the time," and announced publicly that he was going to report the caller to the FBI when he tried to board his plane for he safari.

I wonder if the guy who made the malicious FBI call is proud of himself. He needs to remember that "reap what you sow" thing.

[Rex B]

Anyway, he said that another hunter, who appears to be an idiot, said that he was tired of this guy "breaking the law by bringing explosives on airplanes all the time," and announced publicly that he was going to report the caller to the FBI when he tried to board his plane for he safari.

I wonder if the guy who made the malicious FBI call is proud of himself. He needs to remember that "reap what you sow" thing.

All kinds of hunting accidents can take place in 3rd world countries, far from law enforcement...

[VoiceofReason]

You are correct - BP substitutes are considered flammables, but not explosives - just like smokeless powder. BP was reclassified shortly after 9-11 which is why so many gun shops now don't bother carrying real BP - they would be required to have special storage facilities, etc.

I had a muzzle loader about 25 years ago and black powder was classified as an explosive then. When you bought it you had to fill out and sign a form with all kinds of questions on it.

You could only buy it at certain gun shops at that time. They had to have special storage for it then.

I think the alternate was called Pyrodex and it was classed as a propellant. It was smokeless and did not foul the bore of the barrel as bad.

[kragluver]

Correct - I think BP has been classified as an explosive all along, but I've been told that reg's changed after 9-11 and that's why most places stopped carrying it.