Flying With A Firearm

This was my first time flying with a gun. It was surprisingly easy, but probably because I did a lot of research ahead of time.

I will just give you the plane facts right now (no pun intended) of what you need to know, with no filler material!!

** Please note, this is my experience. And in my experience, I have learned that every airport is different. It is similar to that of local and federal laws. The local laws can make the federal ones more stringent, per say, but not the other way around. An example of this is bringing liquids on a plane in your carry-on. Federal regulations prohibit containers containing more than 3.4 ounces of liquid. Specific airports however, may require you to put all your liquid containers in a separate baggie and removed from all your luggage.. others don’t care where they are packed, as long as it’s 3.4 oz or less.

• Neither ammunition, nor firearms can be put in a carry-on. ANYWHERE OR IN SNY FORM. You also cannot put magazines or anything related to firearms in your carry-ons. Even if they are fake.
• Your firearm must be in a hard shelled lockable case. And it needs to be locked. I have read multiple times that if it has two locks (or padlock openings ) then you need two locks on it… However, I have figured out that’s not necessarily the case. The actual rule prohibits the use of a case that allows two fingers to get inside the case. If your gun case has padlock hoops, then it typically will need both locked to prevent two fingers from entering the case.
• You may not have any ammunition in the same case as your firearm. Period.
• You cannot have any loose ammunition, anywhere. Period. It needs to be in a separate carrying case/container that is specifically designed to carry that type/or includes that type of ammunition.
• I don’t believe there’s any black and white rule about ammunition being locked up; however, there are very specific rules about accessibility. If you walk into an airport and can access your gun and your ammunition, you will be a felon.
• You must announce that you have a firearm in your bag as soon as you get to the check-in counter. And don’t think it can slip through, they scan, checked-in bags as well and if you don’t have the specific piece of paper (that alerts the people running the machines that scan your bags, that you have properly checked in your firearm), I don’t even wanna know what would happen, but I’m assuming you wouldn’t get your bag when you ended up where you were going…
• I departed from a very blue, liberal state. Every enforceable law, restricting gun accessibility and carry, has been implemented. I landed in an extremely red state, in which does not even require you to register your firearm, as long as you’re over 18. Registering a firearm is voluntary. But if I am correct, I believe if you register your gun, subsequent gun purchases will not require additional, but subsequent actions required by federal law. Neither airport required you to show that you are a registered owner of the firearm.. for more specifics, check out the blog post here!

Note: United States Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 44, firearm definitions includes: any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, or is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; and any destructive device. As defined by 49 CFR 1540.5 a loaded firearm has a live round of ammunition, or any component thereof, in the chamber or cylinder or in a magazine inserted in the firearm.