Blackfork
Member
Flew up this last weekend to shoot the Presidents 100 and EIC Pistol Matches at Camp Perry. We flew from D/FW to Colombus, Ohio. I put my pistol box, scope wrapped in bubble wrap and stored inside, 1911 in the gun holder slots with the slots tightend inside a cardboard box, locked. The cardboard box was inside a North Face Black Hole duffel and zipped shut. Ammo was in a separate clamshell pistol travelling box made out of heavy duty thick plastic. The ammo box was padlocked, the pistol box was locked, the duffle bag was locked.
I declared the pistol at the counter, filled out a tag, put it with the pistol and locked everything up. The clerk had to go find a firearms tag. Nobody looked at the pistol which was wrapped in a rag in the slot inside the shooting box.
When I got to Colombus the TSA had been into everything, including opening the ammo boxes. The ammo boxes had been taped shut and the TSA had opened them and retaped them with Homeland Security tape. Nobody sked me for keys. After I checked the bags, (we were about 45 minutes early, I didn't see them again. All the locks were intact. I had three different locks-not all the same manufacturer or key system. One of them was a combination lock.
Coming back, the AA woman at the counter asked me about the ammo box but didn't look at the pistol. I tagged it and lugged it about ten feet to the TSA screening equipment and told them there was a firearm inside. They screened it on the spot and sent it into the checked luggage system. I did notice that the luggage tag had an extra sticker on it that said "screened by the TSA" when I got the bag back in Dallas.
In both cases I checked on the pistol and contents as soon as I reclaimed the luggage in the baggage claim area, even though there really wasn't anyone around to help if something had been missing.
Basically, no problems except the invalidation of the 4th amendment by a lot of illegal searching without warrant by government employees.
Hand carried camera bag stuffed full of electronic stuff didn't draw a second look, though I did pick a station that had two screeners who were just letting everything flow through the X-ray. I pointed out a woman working alone who kept rescreening stuff. I told my girlfriend that we didn't want to go through that station and deal with someone nobody else wants to work with.
Made the Presidents 100 in Pistol, by the way.
I declared the pistol at the counter, filled out a tag, put it with the pistol and locked everything up. The clerk had to go find a firearms tag. Nobody looked at the pistol which was wrapped in a rag in the slot inside the shooting box.
When I got to Colombus the TSA had been into everything, including opening the ammo boxes. The ammo boxes had been taped shut and the TSA had opened them and retaped them with Homeland Security tape. Nobody sked me for keys. After I checked the bags, (we were about 45 minutes early, I didn't see them again. All the locks were intact. I had three different locks-not all the same manufacturer or key system. One of them was a combination lock.
Coming back, the AA woman at the counter asked me about the ammo box but didn't look at the pistol. I tagged it and lugged it about ten feet to the TSA screening equipment and told them there was a firearm inside. They screened it on the spot and sent it into the checked luggage system. I did notice that the luggage tag had an extra sticker on it that said "screened by the TSA" when I got the bag back in Dallas.
In both cases I checked on the pistol and contents as soon as I reclaimed the luggage in the baggage claim area, even though there really wasn't anyone around to help if something had been missing.
Basically, no problems except the invalidation of the 4th amendment by a lot of illegal searching without warrant by government employees.
Hand carried camera bag stuffed full of electronic stuff didn't draw a second look, though I did pick a station that had two screeners who were just letting everything flow through the X-ray. I pointed out a woman working alone who kept rescreening stuff. I told my girlfriend that we didn't want to go through that station and deal with someone nobody else wants to work with.
Made the Presidents 100 in Pistol, by the way.
I have to be there at 0700 tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep now. 