For those who have declared firearms at the airport...

[Texas Size 11]

How did that go for you? I declared for my first time last week headed down to Florida for a little play time. I left from DFW and the agent had to send it down to TSA to check out what I brought (handgun) and I had to send the key with it. I then had to wait twenty minutes for my key to come back with an a-ok. Now, when I declared in Florida, they said great, slapped a sticker on it and I was on my merry way. She asked if it was unloaded and I said yes. Done.

What have been your experiences?

[jason237m]

I flew down to Corpus Christi from DFW and it was the same "ok, and slapped a sticker on it" experience. No delay and no hassle at all. I didn't even have to show a key.

The time before I was flying to Virginia from DFW and I had to present the case to TSA with a key and they had me stand there while they checked the case. They just looked in, asked if they were unloaded and that was that. It was about a 10 minute delay, not a big deal in my book.

[Seabear]

Your trip home is the way it is supposed to go.

You say " I have a weapon to declare"

They say "show me that it is unloaded"

You show them discretely, put the red card in the lock box, lock it up, keep the key, go to the plane.

The idgiot that wanted it to go to TSA is new and trying to hard to follow the rules. The regs actually say you are supposed to wait till TSA clears it, but it also states that you must retain the key. If they want it opened , you have to be present. The first guy goofed up.

It normally goes pretty smooth and easy.

For your next trip I would recomend printing out the ailine and the TSA regs so you can show them what they are supposed to know. I always carry them with me, however I have never needed to prove my point.

[Sputz]

Ive had them have me pull out each handgun and show them it was unloaded out in the open . I didn't like it but I complied and that was a couple months before 911 and haven't checked a gun in since that incident. However seeing the state we are in now I am sure I will be traveling with my handgun in the future and hopefully things go more professionally then my last experience.

Sputz

[MasterOfNone]

Your trip home is the way it is supposed to go.

You say " I have a weapon to declare"

They say "show me that it is unloaded"

You show them discretely, put the red card on the lock box, lock it up, keep the key, go to the plane.

The idgiot that wanted it to go to TSA is new and trying to hard to follow the rules. The regs actually say you are supposed to wait till TSA clears it, but it also states that you must retain the key. If they want it opened , you have to be present. The first guy goofed up.

It normally goes pretty smooth and easy.

For your next trip I would recomend printing out the ailine and the TSA regs so you can show them what they are supposed to know. I always carry them with me, however I have never needed to prove my point.

Small correction. The card is to be outside the box to tell TSA why you have a locked container in your baggage and that they are not to open it.

[RoyGBiv]

TSA: Traveling with Special Items
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ ... _1666.shtm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wgoforth]

Traveling out of Abilene:
Me: "I want to declare a handgun" as I pull out the locked case.
She: "Don't bother, it's fine" as she handed me the card to fill out.
Me: "You don't need to see it and that it's unloaded?"
She: "This is Texas! If this were Chicago maybe" as she taped the card on the outside of the box

[RHenriksen]

Traveling out of Abilene:
Me: "I want to declare a handgun" as I pull out the locked case.
She: "Don't bother, it's fine" as she handed me the card to fill out.
Me: "You don't need to see it and that it's unloaded?"
She: "This is Texas! If this were Chicago maybe" as she taped the card on the outside of the box

Not surprised, considering it was Abilene. Austin, perhaps a different story.

[Kythas]

Or you just leave it on your carry on luggage and go with the 70% chance that the TSA won't find it.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/12/tsa ... -gun-video

[TexasTransplant]

Your trip home is the way it is supposed to go.

You say " I have a weapon to declare"

They say "show me that it is unloaded"

You show them discretely, put the red card on the lock box, lock it up, keep the key, go to the plane.

The idgiot that wanted it to go to TSA is new and trying to hard to follow the rules. The regs actually say you are supposed to wait till TSA clears it, but it also states that you must retain the key. If they want it opened , you have to be present. The first guy goofed up.

It normally goes pretty smooth and easy.

For your next trip I would recomend printing out the ailine and the TSA regs so you can show them what they are supposed to know. I always carry them with me, however I have never needed to prove my point.

Small correction. The card is to be outside the box to tell TSA why you have a locked container in your baggage and that they are not to open it.

and a small correction to your correction... Per TSA rules, the outside of the container is not to be identified in any manner as to the contents -- and on my weekly trips, I have NEVER been asked to show the firearm has been unloaded. I have never been asked to surrender the key, either.

It sure is nice to have ALL my belongings protected from both TSA employees and airline employees.

--------

edit: I just reread this thread, and realized some people may not do what I do...I have a Pelican case (hard-sided) large enough for all my stuff (shoes, shirts, pants, suits, toiletries, laptop, etc ) and after packing that all up, I put an unloaded handgun, in my IWB holster, on top, then close the lid and lock it up. EVERYTHING is protected that way.

[ryanr1299]

Flying out of Dallas Love Field with two handguns in one box, I was just handed a card and told to fill it out and put it inside the box with the guns, off to my plane after that. Leaving Phoenix on the return I had to show the guns to the agent, fill out and place the card inside then lock the case back up, be escorted by TSA to a security check for baggage, show guns to TSA, then lock the case back up, and wait while my whole suitcase was run through the X-ray machine. Not a big deal, but I was very surprised by how much the two experiences varied.

[TLE2]

I had an experience similar to wgoforth flying from Houston to Oklahoma on Southwest. Didn't even want to see what was in the locked case.

[ELB]

I've had all the variations described above -- declaration card inside the gunbox/card outside the gunbox, show unloaded/don't show, show behind curtain (rare)/show at the counter (most common), walk the bag myself to TSA/airline employee walk bag to TSA, TSA wants to look in the gunbox/don't want to look in the box. At one airport the TSA was even verifying guns were unloaded for the airlines, altho I think that has since changed.

I just make sure MY end of the process is golden, go with the local airport flow, and have not had any problems. I always tell the TSA guy I will be standing by while they run it thru the machine, and this has always worked out. The process eats up some time, but has never been a real problem. Of course, I only fly to and from free states. And lately I don't feel like flying much at all.

[rnschltz]

I travel frequently all over the country for business out of Austin. I can say that the procedure varies widely from airport to airport, depending on the agents interpretation of the regulations and how TSA is set up at the airport. I have to open my safe, not open my safe, be escorted to the TSA xray loacation, not escorted, etc., etc. Inconsistent, just like my carry on being checked at one airport and not another (which happens often).

[Seabear]

Your trip home is the way it is supposed to go.

You say " I have a weapon to declare"

They say "show me that it is unloaded"

You show them discretely, put the red card on the lock box, lock it up, keep the key, go to the plane.

The idgiot that wanted it to go to TSA is new and trying to hard to follow the rules. The regs actually say you are supposed to wait till TSA clears it, but it also states that you must retain the key. If they want it opened , you have to be present. The first guy goofed up.

It normally goes pretty smooth and easy.

For your next trip I would recomend printing out the ailine and the TSA regs so you can show them what they are supposed to know. I always carry them with me, however I have never needed to prove my point.

Small correction. The card is to be outside the box to tell TSA why you have a locked container in your baggage and that they are not to open it.

Negative. Both times the card was put in the locked container. According to TSA regs. there is not supposed to be any indication that there is a firearm in the suitcase. I asked and they said they could see the card in the case with their x-ray machine.