Tips for flying with firearms

I fly with guns at least 5 times a year. My 2 best pieces of advice are to get a lock for every hole and to absolutely make sure they put that piece of paper with your signature in the case with your guns. They say to make sure there is a lock on every hole but I’ve only seen it enforced a handful of times. One time in Washington the baggage guy tried to pry open my case to prove a point that my case didn’t have enough locks even though there was one for every hole. He made me buy extra locks and duct tape the case… as for the slip of paper, I have heard horror stories from friends about TSA not seeing the slip and confiscating the guns because they weren’t checked in properly. I had to tell the new baggage lady at MSY last year how to do it because she almost forgot mine.

Oh, and don’t skimp on a shitty case. I’m convinced they try extra hard to break your stuff because they know they are guns. I have seen them crack Pelican cases before and I consider those good.

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I’ve seen they have to be TSA approved and I’ve seen not to use TSA approved

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I’ve done both and I haven’t seen any issue there… I usually use my regular non tsa locks but keep a set of tsa locks on my carryon just in case

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thinking about slipping a AirTag

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Not a bad idea. I’ve had guns miss a flight to Canada once and we had to make the airport hold them until we flew out

Sure, I do this plenty every year. I have found that the TSA agents and airline staff are better versed in the current rules and regs at smaller airports than at major hubs. The TSA agents and airline staff the airport in Aberdeen are practically gunsmiths. The TSA agents and airline staff at LaGuardia have panic attacks when they even see a long case.

Regardless of who you're dealing with, my advice is to be as polite and calm with them as possible. You've already paid for a plane ticket to go on a great hunting trip and they are what is standing between you and taking your gun with you or potentially missing your flight and/or days in the field. These situations are a lot like marriage. You can be "right" or you can "get what you want."

There have absolutely been times where the airlines or the TSA agents have not been up to speed with their own rules, but since they're the ones standing between me getting somewhere quickly or finding a new flight, it's their world and I'm gonna play ball. If they say I need TSA approved locks, I buy TWO sets. If I need a lock for every hole, I have a lock for every hole. If my ammo needs to be in its original packaging OR in a package specifically made for ammo, then I leave it in the original packaging just to be safe. I've seen buddies lose their cool with the airline staff and TSA agents before, and while they may have been in the right, it doesn't help them get where they're going any quicker. So my advice is to know the rules like the back of your hand, interpret them extremely conservatively, and be as nice as you can.

Also, don't go cheap on the case. I love my pelican case and the removable foam inserts allow me to customize which guns I put in there (two shotguns, rifle/shotgun, etc.). The airtag idea is great too. I should do that.