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My daughter is graduating high school in Grand Rapids, MI this coming May. We will be flying up there for the event. One of the options we've been looking at, due to cost (four of us are going!) is flying into Chicago O'Hare or Midway, and driving over to Grand Rapids from there.

I know we have reciprocity with Michigan's CPL (their equivalent of a CHL), and I also know that Illinois has nothing--in fact is quite the overall "unfriendly" state.

SO my question is this...has anyone ever checked a pistol through the airlines at either O'Hare or Midway? Obviously I won't be carrying it in Illinois, but was wondering if Chicago is as nasty to "passing through" as New York and/or New Jersey can be...

I'm pretty familiar with the overall "process" of checking a pistol with the airline (in a case, unloaded, probably broken down for ease and compliance with Illinois' general nonsense) and handing the firearms declaration process. I'm really wondering if merely showing up at the counter asking to declare a firearm is likely to be the beginning of a bad day.

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

NY & NJ my be nasty, but Chicago will throw you in jail. You will be charged with a felony. They even arrested one of their anti-gun state senators last fall when he accidentally brought his "licensed" gun. I'm on my phone, but I'll find and post the link tomorrow if someone doesn't beat me to it. It's illegal to possess a handgun in that town.

Traveling through Chicago is legal under FOPA, since you are legal in both the origin and destination states.

The Illinois State Police has a whole bunch of web pages on their website on how to legally transport a firearm through IL under IL state law. IL requires the FOID, but the ISP states they recognize out-of-state CHL's as being equivalent to an FOID.

Flying into Chicago should not be a problem, since you are merely picking your checked bags up and leaving.

Federal law or not, I would be very nervous about checking the gun in at either O'Hare or Midway for the return. How many times have we seen news reports from previously-free states of someone arrested at airport check-in?

If it was me, I'd try to arrange an FFL in Gary IN or otherwise close to the IN-IL border that would mail mail my handgun back home on the return trip. An FFL can send in a medium flat rate box for $15 postage plus FFL fees. A lot cheaper than even one hour of a lawyer's time.

You may have FOPA on your side, and the web site may say recognize an out of state CHL as equivalent to a FOID, but that is only according to the ISP web site, not the individual officers or the local jurisdictions. I would avoid traveling through O'Hare at all, as Chicago has its own set of rules and you could wind up in a bad way, and Midway is almost as bad, as stated above.

Fly into Detroit. It's 20 miles closer. MI honors a TX Resident permit.
As Frog said previously, you're probably ok traveling INTO Chicago, but I would not try to check a handgun in Chicago going home. That's just begging to get arrested.

DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all! Your conclusions have pretty much been in line with what I was thinking -- specifically that:

1) It's perfectly legal. In much the same way as openly carrying an AR-15 up and down the streets of Houston.
2) Chicagoland clearly has no issue with making up their own rules as thing go along.
3) You'll beat the rap, but there's a better than slight chance of taking the ride
4) Flying INTO Chicago wouldn't be an issue. Flying OUT of Chicago is another story.

I've decided that we will not fly into Chicago. Even though it'll cost us about $400 more to go elsewhere, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I don't patronize 30.06 establishments, and I won't financially support the Chicagoland quagmire either.

Last night, after posting my question, I went ahead and called the Chicago PD. I had a very pleasant and constructive conversation with the duty sergeant. Although he was clearly in our corner in that FOPA would apply, and a Texas CHL would suffice for an FOID substitute, he was clear that showing up at the ticket counter to declare a firearm COULD generate a "man with a gun call," and that if I encountered the Chicago PD in that instance, I would be arrested for bringing a firearm onto airport property. He did say that it was probably legal, but that the courts, not the beat cops, would be the ones to sort it out.

I was expecting a holier-than-thou OMG what do you think you need a gun for attitude, but it was quite the opposite. He made his contempt for the current system and mindset very clear, and mentioned that they were expecting to see changes around those internal policies by the end of the year--but that for now, I'd be best off to consider O'Hare off limits . . . and that coming INTO O'Hare would be no problem at all.

So, to conclude, I'll go elsewhere, and consider my contact with Chicago PD a "good contact" even though I don't like the answer...especially given that they don't like it either.

We fly from DFW to Grand Rapids once a year (at least my wife does). We are able to find direct flights and lower cost than going to Detroit (sometimes), but Detroit would be a better choice if GRR is too much $$.

We are flying into Detroit in July, I will be packing in and packing out a 9mm - this will be my second trip through Detroit since getting my CHL.

geekwagun wrote:We fly from DFW to Grand Rapids once a year (at least my wife does). We are able to find direct flights and lower cost than going to Detroit (sometimes), but Detroit would be a better choice if GRR is too much $$.

We are flying into Detroit in July, I will be packing in and packing out a 9mm - this will be my second trip through Detroit since getting my CHL.

Yeah, we were looking pretty hard at going into Detroit, but the timing of the flights means that Detroit is nearly twice the cost when you consider four of us. I was kind of wanting to hit Detroit and take a side trip to American Jewelry & Loan (yes, we're Hardcore Pawn fans, oddly enough).

At this point, we're thinking Muskogee is the best-priced option--although we're also looking at either Ft. Wayne or South Bend.

At least once I get to Michigan I know my pistol is no problem; I've carried there before, and it's not too far removed from carrying here at home.