A new twist in flying with a firearm, got to our destination, went to the baggage claim room and there sits my bright orange hard side with a very large zip tie around it? I have two wide nylon straps around it already so the TSA overkill is baffling, and i know they got into my bag because the three digit had been reset to 000. The wife said "Just cut it off" Uh honey everything pointy is in that bag, kid at the Love truck stop where i bought a box cutter said it had happened to him also on checked firearms. So i guess gorilla tape a disposable box cutter on the bottom in the future?

I don't see what the problem is.

If you fly Delta and go into Pittsburgh, they do that too. Never had it happen anywhere else, but TSA has never gone into my bag before.

Why is the TSA opening bags with checked Firearms? I thought your firearms case was generally opened for inspection (in the presence of Airline and/or TSA) and then locked with a non-TSA Lock at Check-in, never to be opened again until opened by the owner until after departing the destination airport.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Why is the TSA opening bags with checked Firearms? I thought your firearms case was generally opened for inspection (in the presence of Airline and/or TSA) and then locked with a non-TSA Lock at Check-in, never to be opened again until opened by the owner until after departing the destination airport.

^^^This^^^

It was my understanding that TSA wasn't supposed to be able to open your bag without your presence?

Every time I’ve flown Delta in the past couple of years, my bag always comes out with a huge zip tie on it. Sometimes they are so loose I can just slip them off. I pack a cheap folding knife in the outside pocket, just in case they won’t slip off.

I’ve carried one of these on a key ring for years through TSA checkpoints. Works well for cutting tywraps when you get to your destination

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d...64-9e7b-4295db388007

quote:

Originally posted by 95flhr:
I’ve carried one of these on a key ring for years through TSA checkpoints. Works well for cutting tywraps when you get to your destination

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d...64-9e7b-4295db388007

I saw a lady's bag get flagged because she had one of the same key chain on her key ring. I guess you are lucky they didn't take it.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Why is the TSA opening bags with checked Firearms? I thought your firearms case was generally opened for inspection (in the presence of Airline and/or TSA) and then locked with a non-TSA Lock at Check-in, never to be opened again until opened by the owner until after departing the destination airport.

My understanding is that the actual case your firearm is in should be locked with a non-TSA lock so only you have access to it. However, if that case is inside a regular piece of luggage, that luggage should (but is not required to) have a TSA-accessible lock on it. TSA periodically inspects bags (not just bags containing firearms). I’ve found the TSA “calling card” slip inside my bag from
Time to time. I’m guessing there’s some fine print somewhere that says that by handing your bag over to TSA, you’re consenting to random searches.

What bothers me more is that my understanding is that U.S. code prohibits commercial carriers from marking packages that contain firearms. That’s why UPS and FedEx do not mark packages when shipping firearms. A few years back, some airlines started pulling bags with firearms out at the destination and requiring people to pick them up at the back age office. Clearly that means they have to be marked with a recognizable label to indicate they contain a firearm. That seems to expose them to theft, which is why the U.S. code prohibiting marking exists. I brought it up at the airline baggage counter the first time this happened, and of course they had no idea what I was talking about.

When flying out of Richmond last Sunday the Breeze airline clerk insisted that I open my luggage and pistol case to put the "unloaded firearm" card on top of the pistol. Locked it backup and away it went.
Returning home the clerk just wanted me to open the luggage so she could throw the card in the luggage with the pistol case.
Both times the luggage came done the conveyor with everyone else's.

I would prefer that to how I found my handgun container after the last time I flew: unlocked with the open padlocks sitting on top of it.

Orlando TSA can kiss all of my ass.

quote:

Originally posted by 3ACR_Scout:

...What bothers me more is that my understanding is that U.S. code prohibits commercial carriers from marking packages that contain firearms...

Could they be "marked" in the airline's bag tracking system? I've never flown with a firearm, but I've done a lot of traveling. Checked bags get a large, impossible-to-miss tag with destination and bar code plus one of two much smaller tags with bar code only.

Maybe some airlines electronically ID bags with firearms and pull them aside during the unloading process.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
Could they be "marked" in the airline's bag tracking system? I've never flown with a firearm, but I've done a lot of traveling. Checked bags get a large, impossible-to-miss tag with destination and bar code plus one of two much smaller tags with bar code only.

Maybe some airlines electronically ID bags with firearms and pull them aside during the unloading process.

My experience with American and United was that they both put a second tag on bag that said something to the effect of “Hold at baggage office - do not release at baggage claim.” I forget the exact wording, but it was clear from the second tag that there was a reason for it to be diverted to the baggage office upon arrival at the destination.

As others have alluded to, one of the problems with airlines and TSA is that there’s no standard for how they handle these things. I’ve had very different experience at different airports, and even with the same airline on the same trip. Usually the check-in counter just asked to open up my bag so they can place the slip of paper on top of the case. However, on one trip, the woman at the counter asked me to remove the pistol from the case and pull back the slide so she could verify that there was no round in the chamber. I asked her to confirm that she wanted me to do that in the open, in front of the other passengers waiting to check in, and she told me to go ahead. Checking in at Houston Bush, United used to make you take the bag to a special station at check in where they ran an explosive residue swab over your bag before you could drop it off. I have no idea what the purpose of that was, since you’re undoubtedly going to have residue around your firearm.

TSA:
Thousands Standing Around
Take Scissors Away

quote:

U.S. code prohibits commercial carriers from marking packages that contain firearms

I flew once (with a handgun)and the air carrier put a bright orange tag on my luggage marking it as containing valuable items and had it sent to a separate holding area.

I fly quite a bit armed and in carry on. No two airports or ticket agents have ever been the same.

A lot of time they just make a call based on what they “think” is suppose to happen. Not usually based on any policy.

The zip tie started happening after the Ft Lauderdale incident.

I always place a multi tool in the outside pocket. Not to retrieve the pistol but it’s a beacon of what you have inside. It’s a process. I lost my train of thought here but TSA locks on the luggage. Personal locks on the firearm case. If they do anything more than observe the firearm while opened in the case I request the LEO to be summoned. There is always one assigned to the ticketing area.

Feel free to email me for questions.

This thread is a good reminder of why I hate to fly.

I almost missed a flight out of CA once because the CSR at the counter tried to tell me that my padlock didn't meet TSA standards.

I've never had a tag placed inside the box containing the firearm only placed inside my checked luggage with the box containing the firearm. I have been subjected to the swab and going to a different station to have it checked, etc.

Airlines are a shitshow.