Flew out of Atlantic City.

 

I'll be flying out of ACY, my carrier is Spirit and my destination is FL. This would be my first experience flying with a checked firearm. I was planning on putting the Pelican case inside larger luggage as you've documented. My biggest concern is what happens when the Spirit people, TSA or NJSP make up something on the spot about the process. You always run that risk especially in firearm phobic states like NJ. Was wondering if anyone on the forum has had a less than compliant experience with Atlantic City Int.

I have had the counter girl at Spirit say that she must take the unlocked case into the back room where the TSA Agents were. They needed to verify that the handgun was unloaded then they would lock it up. Of course we all know that this is wrong. But I kept my mouth shut (tensions were tight with wifey at that moment) and let her do what she wanted.

I have had the counter girl at Spirit say that she must take the unlocked case into the back room

 

Yeah, I'm sure it varies from agent to agent. If you give them push back on the request then who knows what could happen. On the flip side, the gotcha laws we have suck and could get you just as screwed. Imagine giving your locked case & key to the Spirit agent, she walks away only to return with TSA & NJSP in tow. "Sir, did you just hand over a firearm to someone?" I'm sure this can happen and the fallout would be ugly. How pathetic is it that the law abiding gun owner who goes to all the trouble finding out the myriad of laws he has to follow just to exercise a civil right. We've all read the horror stories from Port Authority airports and how they treat gun owners. I'm trying not to get in the news if you know what I'm talking about.

I flew out of Newark with a checked firearm. I had no issues. Agent simply had me fill out a declaration that it was unloaded, then he escorted me to the TSA station. The TSA agent put it through an x-ray scanner, then gave me thumbs up, and I was on my way. I picked it up at my destination (Nevada) without any issues either. No problems on the way back either.

 

As I tell everyone, visit the TSA website and print out all the information on traveling with firearms. Then print out the airline's policy on firearms. Then you'll have all the rules you'll need.