I Checked My Glock at the Airport...Disaster!

[Greeper]

Sorry folks, this is a long one, but if you fly with your gun, or plan/want to, this experience may help you prevent a disaster.

Okay, I've been carrying for a while now and I travel quite a bit. I've started to miss having the Glock on my side when out of town so I decided to try flying with it. I had a one-way trip to Idaho, to pick up my daughter from college, and drive back. This seemed like a good "test-run" trip since it wasn't mission critical for work and I could always figure out an alternate plan.

I went to Midwest in South Bend, got a small TSA approved combination lock box, unloaded the magazines, put a new box of ammo and my holster, cable-locked it to the suitcase's internal pull-handle mechanism (to keep baggage handlers from saying it "dropped out" of the bag)...Good intentions, all...

I checked in at the counter in South Bend and immediately told them I had a firearm to declare. It was a breeze, she had me sign the orange tag, set the combination so they could check it and said she'd close/spin the number when TSA was done. She placed my baggage claim sticker on the back of my ticket, I thanked her for making this so easy and boarded my plane.

In Idaho Falls, I was eager to get my firearm but the bags hadn't arrived yet, so I went to the car-rental counter. As I was working things out there, I saw what looked like my bag come onto the carousel and breathed a sigh of relief...that was the last one for a while - for that one was not my bag...

When done getting my car keys (10 minutes) I went to the carousel and no bags were left...OH CRAP!!

I race to the ticket counter and tell them my bag is not there and it's got a firearm! DO SOMETHING NOW!!.

They asked for my claim sticker, so I pulled out my ticket, and that's the first time I noticed...the name on the sticker...was...not...mine...And the tag showed Daytona Beach as the destination.

Anyway, Delta was great about the solution. I submitted my claim right there, on Thursday afternoon. They found the bag in the unclaimed section of the Daytona Beach airport and the Idaho lady told the Daytona folks what had happened. Unfortunately, this is not a common occurence and it took them a while to figure out the right way to handle it with me as a claimant of a bag under someone else's name.

So, I drive from Idaho back to northern IN with no luggage or gun (except a new DPMS Panther I picked up in Idaho ).

I arrived this morning at 5:00 AM and the bag, with gun intact and unmolested, was delivered to my house around 11:00.

The moral of the story is...Fly with your gun, it's easy and not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, but for goodness sakes, VERIFY EVERYTHING. I fly around the country twice a month and have never felt the need to verify my name on the baggage claim tag...it's NEVER been wrong...until the day that it was disastrous for it to be wrong. But today I have my bag, my gun, my new AR and all is well in the world...


I'll probably bring my gun to Oklahoma next week...but be more dilligent in the details.

 

[Bert]

thought out of state private sales were a big no no .

 

[churchmouse]

Sorry folks, this is a long one, but if you fly with your gun, or plan/want to, this experience may help you prevent a disaster.

Okay, I've been carrying for a while now and I travel quite a bit. I've started to miss having the Glock on my side when out of town so I decided to try flying with it. I had a one-way trip to Idaho, to pick up my daughter from college, and drive back. This seemed like a good "test-run" trip since it wasn't mission critical for work and I could always figure out an alternate plan.

I went to Midwest in South Bend, got a small TSA approved combination lock box, unloaded the magazines, put a new box of ammo and my holster, cable-locked it to the suitcase's internal pull-handle mechanism (to keep baggage handlers from saying it "dropped out" of the bag)...Good intentions, all...

I checked in at the counter in South Bend and immediately told them I had a firearm to declare. It was a breeze, she had me sign the orange tag, set the combination so they could check it and said she'd close/spin the number when TSA was done. She placed my baggage claim sticker on the back of my ticket, I thanked her for making this so easy and boarded my plane.

In Idaho Falls, I was eager to get my firearm but the bags hadn't arrived yet, so I went to the car-rental counter. As I was working things out there, I saw what looked like my bag come onto the carousel and breathed a sigh of relief...that was the last one for a while - for that one was not my bag...

When done getting my car keys (10 minutes) I went to the carousel and no bags were left...OH CRAP!!

I race to the ticket counter and tell them my bag is not there and it's got a firearm! DO SOMETHING NOW!!.

They asked for my claim sticker, so I pulled out my ticket, and that's the first time I noticed...the name on the sticker...was...not...mine...And the tag showed Daytona Beach as the destination.

Anyway, Delta was great about the solution. I submitted my claim right there, on Thursday afternoon. They found the bag in the unclaimed section of the Daytona Beach airport and the Idaho lady told the Daytona folks what had happened. Unfortunately, this is not a common occurence and it took them a while to figure out the right way to handle it with me as a claimant of a bag under someone else's name.

So, I drive from Idaho back to northern IN with no luggage or gun (except a new DPMS Panther I picked up as a private purchase in Idaho ).

I arrived this morning at 5:00 AM and the bag, with gun intact and unmolested, was delivered to my house around 11:00.

The moral of the story is...Fly with your gun, it's easy and not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, but for goodness sakes, VERIFY EVERYTHING. I fly around the country twice a month and have never felt the need to verify my name on the baggage claim tag...it's NEVER been wrong...until the day that it was disastrous for it to be wrong. But today I have my bag, my gun, my new AR and all is well in the world...


I'll probably bring my gun to Oklahoma next week...but be more dilligent in the details.

Seems like this was intentional. How do you get the name wrong when reading it off your ticket etc. Just seems a bit hinky to me.

 

[jbombelli]

thought out of state private sales were a big no no .

I must have missed the part about the out of state private sale? Can you point that out in the OP?

 

[Bert]

right above the animated figure

 

[the1kidd03]

You may wish to edit your post immediately....

 

[Burnsy]

I must have missed the part about the out of state private sale? Can you point that out in the OP?

So, I drive from Idaho back to northern IN with no luggage or gun (except a new DPMS Panther I picked up as a private purchase in Idaho ).

I think here is what he is talking about.

 

[GNRPowdeR]

Laws

thought out of state private sales were a big no no .

The only laws around "out of state sales" (typically) deal directly with sidearms & not long guns. You can go to a show in OH and purchase a long gun, but to purchased a sidearm it would need to be shipped from the OH FFL to your FFL in your state. Then you would do the paperwork for picking it up from your FFL & pay them a "headache" fee for doing sed paperwork.

 

[WC Deer Hunter]

I thought out of state private sales were fine for long guns?

GNRPowder beat me to it I see.

 

[jbombelli]

right above the animated figure

Yup. I missed it. But that said...

A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#out-of-state-firearm

I would edit that part out of the post if I was the OP.

 

[bwframe]

...They asked for my claim sticker, so I pulled out my ticket, and that's the first time I noticed...the name on the sticker...was...not...mine...And the tag showed Daytona Beach as the destination...

Thanks for relaying your experience. I could see this slipping by me, before your education.

 

[Greeper]

Admittedly, I left out some of the details of my completely legal purchase as that was not pertinent to the main crux of my post. But to eliminate further rat-hole conversations, I've updated my commentary.

 

[jbombelli]

Admittedly, I left out some of the details of my completely legal purchase as that was not pertinent to the main crux of my post. But to eliminate further rat-hole conversations, I've updated my commentary.

So, I drive from Idaho back to northern IN with no luggage or gun (except a new DPMS Panther I picked up in Idaho ).

So are you actually an IDAHO resident, and not an Indiana resident? If you're an INDIANA resident, and you bought that rifle in Idaho, it needed to be shipped to a dealer HERE IN INDIANA for the transfer to you.

Let me quote again:

A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.

And here's the link to the ATF's page again, where I got that quote:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#out-of-state-firearm

Sorry for the "rat hole" conversation about a potential federal crime. I don't mean to insult your delicate sensibilities, but the way you're wording this screams "I broke the law, don't know any better, don't want to listen to anybody else, and I'm damned proud of it."

 

[A 7.62 Exodus]

So are you actually an IDAHO resident, and not an Indiana resident? If you're an INDIANA resident, and you bought that rifle in Idaho, it needed to be shipped to a dealer HERE IN INDIANA for the transfer to you.

Let me quote again:



And here's the link to the ATF's page again, where I got that quote:

Firearms - Frequently Asked Questions - Unlicensed Persons | ATF

Sorry for the "rat hole" conversation about a potential federal crime. I don't mean to insult your delicate sensibilities, but the way you're wording this screams "I broke the law, don't know any better, don't want to listen to anybody else, and I'm damned proud of it."

I was told an out of state private FTF sale of a long rifle could be done ONLY if an FFL is involved PERIOD. For example, I may buy a 30-30 off of my Grandpa in WV, i was told all i needed to do was was hit up a local FFL, transfer the rifle to my name, and pay said Grandpa. Nothing about shipping it to my local FFL. I thought the shipping had to be a pistol, not a long rifle.

I'm sure an INGO member who is well aware of the laws will be along shortly to say one way or the other

 

[jbombelli]

I was told an out of state private FTF sale of a long rifle could be done ONLY if an FFL is involved PERIOD. For example, I may buy a 30-30 off of my Grandpa in WV, i was told all i needed to do was was hit up a local FFL, transfer the rifle to my name, and pay said Grandpa. Nothing about shipping it to my local FFL. I thought the shipping had to be a pistol, not a long rifle.

I'm sure an INGO member who is well aware of the laws will be along shortly to say one way or the other

"...licensed dealer in the purchaser's state of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer."

I'm not just making this up. I copy/pasted it directly from the ATF's website. Please note, it says "firearm" not "handgun" or "pistol", but "firearm."

I'm an INGO member who's well aware of the laws and what they say. It's how I stay out of prison.

 

[Greeper]

Sorry for the "rat hole" conversation about a potential federal crime. I don't mean to insult your delicate sensibilities, but the way you're wording this screams "I broke the law, don't know any better, don't want to listen to anybody else, and I'm damned proud of it."

Apology accepted. However, since I'm not being detained, questioned, or under arrest, you're not a prosecutor, and I don't have a lawyer let's just leave the one line comment in the entire post as it stands currently. I acquired a rifle, legally - in every sense of the word, that I'm proud of getting...not in the way I got it (not that there's anything wrong with the way I got it...just to be clear...again), but that I've been in the market for an AR for a while now and I finally have it, and am proud of it. I'm not a felon, I didn't break the law, and I resent the push that I might be after I corrected the comment. Maybe I didn't clarify to the detail you wish, but this post is about the airline issue, not the rifle.

So, since you're feeling so chatty, how about a comment about the luggage witha firearm going the wrong way? Or maybe you can find some detail in that commentary that might vaguely allude to exaggerated skeletons that don't exist there too.

 

[jbombelli]

Apology accepted. However, since I'm not being detained, questioned, or under arrest, you're not a prosecutor, and I don't have a lawyer let's just leave the one line comment in the entire post as it stands currently. I acquired a rifle, legally - in every sense of the word, that I'm proud of getting...not in the way I got it (not that there's anything wrong with the way I got it...just to be clear...again), but that I've been in the market for an AR for a while now and I finally have it, and am proud of it. I'm not a felon, I didn't break the law, and I resent the push that I might be after I corrected the comment. Maybe I didn't clarify to the detail you wish, but this post is about the airline issue, not the rifle.

So, since you're feeling so chatty, how about a comment about the luggage witha firearm going the wrong way? Or maybe you can find some detail in that commentary that might vaguely allude to exaggerated skeletons that don't exist there too.

If you're an Indiana resident, and you bought a firearm in Idaho, and did NOT have it shipped by the seller to a FFL in Indiana, in light of the law I quoted requiring exactly that, what would you call it?

The regulation I posted applies whether you buy from a dealer or a private individual.

That's why I asked if you're an Idaho resident or Indiana resident. Well, which are you?

I don't give rat's *** about the luggage. I'm not addressing that. Stupid **** like that is why I don't fly in the first place.

 

[Exodus]

What the other exodus said. I can drive right now to Whittakers and buy a long gun and drive it home and be done. Or I could also meet a private seller there and have them do the transfer and pay thief fee.

Jbomb not saying your wrong but I think you might be missing something about that law, maybe only pertaining to handguns.

 

[Dead Duck]

I have never flown with my firearms.
There are too many stories about flying with guns and I've seen a few scenarios played out at airports throughout the states.

What I've done for years is to ship out my [STRIKE]guns[/STRIKE] "machining parts" ahead of me to a friend at my destination. Hassle? Yes, and less hassle in the long run. Using just carry-on bags will also reduces the chance of lost luggage and lost time at the conveyor belt. This is, of course, if you can travel that light.

 

[jbombelli]

What the other exodus said. I can drive right now to Whittakers and buy a long gun and drive it home and be done. Or I could also meet a private seller there and have them do the transfer and pay thief fee.

Jbomb not saying your wrong but I think you might be missing something about that law, maybe only pertaining to handguns.

so the term "firearms" only includes "handguns"? "Rifles" and "Shotguns" aren't "firearms"?

I copy/pasted it exactly as it appears, directly from the BATFE's website. There may be certain different rules regarding border states to my recollection ... but Idaho most certainly does not share a border with Indiana so those rules wouldn't apply in this instance anyway.

I'll pay attention to the verbiage straight from the BATFE long before I listen to random internet personalities. I am at least posting the verbiage ... all anyone else is doing is saying I'm wrong but not backing up their words with anything at all.