Flying out of Newark with a firearm

[magnawing 5]

So...this morning I'm flying to Houston with my .45. My flight is at 12:40 so, to make sure I have plenty of time to deal with any hassles, I had my wife drop me off at 9:00am. I walked straight to the Southwest counter and let them know that I have a firearm to declare in my checked bag. The agent checked me in, filled out the little card and walked me to the TSA baggage check station. They had me wait at the exit while my bag went through the x-ray. When it came out, they said "OK, you're good to go" and sent me on to my gate...I didn't even have to open the suitcase.

 

I have a TSA luggage lock on the suitcase, the gun is taken apart (slide removed from frame) and both parts are locked in a GunVault personal safe which is cable locked to the suitcase frame. The safe is in my range bag, which is locked with a standard padlock. The range bag is locked to the suitcase frame with a 1/2" diameter bicycle cable lock and the compartment with the mags is also padlocked. If they want anything out of there, they'll have to go to more trouble than it's worth.

 

Maybe they could see all of the cables and locks on the x-ray? Plus, there's no ammo in there at all...I'll pick that up when I get there.

 

Other than all of the locking and securing of my equipment, the entire experience was pretty painless...I might even venture to say it was easy.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

[Lalo 13]

Wow, that's great! And that's exactly how painless it SHOULD be. I think that people run into problems when they either don't package it correctly, don't declare it properly, run into issues with employees who don't know the procedure or try to fly out of NY.

[diamondd817 826]

Wow. You were treated like an American, in NJ!!

[magnawing 5]

I also made sure to say, as soon as I got to the ticket counter, "I have to declare a firearm in my checked baggage"...not "I have a gun in my bag...that I need to check". I was very conscious to not say "gun". I always referred to it as a "firearm"...for some reason, the word gun makes airport people uneasy but firearm doesn't.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

[mipafox 438]

You're going to walk out of the airport in your new home state unarmed? That's kinda sad

 

But congrats on the exodus!

[djg0770 481]

I also made sure to say, as soon as I got to the ticket counter, "I have to declare a firearm in my checked baggage"...not "I have a gun in my bag...that I need to check". I was very conscious to not say "gun". I always referred to it as a "firearm"...for some reason, the word gun makes airport people uneasy but firearm doesn't.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

 

 

I tell them that I need a firearms declaration form. 

[magnawing 5]

They filled out the form, I just signed it. And it wasn't even really a "form"...more like a 3"x5" notecard.

[DeerSlayer 241]

Exactly the same experience I had when flying to FL. Except I brought ammo and loaded a magazine right after I put my bags into my rental car in the parking garage. Wore my gun the entire time I was there afterword.

[Old Glock guy 1,127]

I tell them that I need a firearms declaration form. 

 

That sounds like a good way to do it.  I just tell them that I have a locked, unloaded firearm in my suitcase, and I have never had a problem.

 

I don't go to quite the lengths of the OP to secure my gun, but I generally lock the slide back and put a cable lock through the action so they

can clearly see that it is unloaded.  I agree with others who say that you should take some ammo with you.  At the very least, it saves having to look

around for it when you reach your destination.  (Although in Texas, they probably sell it right in the airports.)

[mipafox 438]

Exactly the same experience I had when flying to FL. Except I brought ammo and loaded a magazine right after I put my bags into my rental car in the parking garage. Wore my gun the entire time I was there afterword.

I haven't walked out of an airport unarmed in 7 years! Well, except Cali. I'm fortunate that everywhere else I've traveled you can be armed inside the airport.

[DeerSlayer 241]

I haven't walked out of an airport unarmed in 7 years! Well, except Cali. I'm fortunate that everywhere else I've traveled you can be armed inside the airport.

Many people are targeted outside of airports. Makes perfect sense to me. Most airports are in seedy places I've come to notice.

 

[mipafox 438]

Many people are targeted outside of airports. Makes perfect sense to me. Most airports are in seedy places I've come to notice.

And they love rental cars. Travelers are less likely to be armed, may even be foreigners, and are less likely to report to police or to fully cooperate due to the hassle and cost of returning at a later date or potential need for a local attorney.

 

Florida went Shall Issue in the 80s and five years later criminals were robbing and blasting foreigners like there was no bag limit.

[DeerSlayer 241]

And they love rental cars. Travelers are less likely to be armed, may even be foreigners, and are less likely to report to police or to fully cooperate due to the hassle and cost of returning at a later date or potential need for a local attorney.

 

Florida went Shall Issue in the 80s and five years later criminals were robbing and blasting foreigners like there was no bag limit.

The only time I don't load up as soon as I grab my bag in the Orlando airport is if my father in law is picking us up. He is always carrying. They're was a time where criminals were grabbing rental moving trucks and waiting outside the airport to crash into tourist's in their rental cars. Then robbing them, sometimes killing them too.

[Karatenurse 11]

I had the same experience a few years ago flying to Ft Lauderdale. The best thing was the flight I was scheduled for was to be a lay over in Memphis, but do to weather conditions they offered me an upgrade direct flight on another airline. After placing the red tag in with my G-19 in a locked box, they ran it through x-ray and sent me on my way with no hassles.

[NYMetsFan86 9]

I'll be flying out of ewr once a month for the next year, Florida for a week at a time. It is comforting to read threads like this and i'm sure ill think nothing of it after doing it a few times. i have a seahorse 120 case that fits my glock 23 nicely, have to separate the slide before packing but it shows the firearm is definitely unloaded if they need to check.

[Bushmaster1313 61]

So...this morning I'm flying to Houston with my .45. My flight is at 12:40 so, to make sure I have plenty of time to deal with any hassles, I had my wife drop me off at 9:00am. I walked straight to the Southwest counter and let them know that I have a firearm to declare in my checked bag. The agent checked me in, filled out the little card and walked me to the TSA baggage check station. They had me wait at the exit while my bag went through the x-ray. When it came out, they said "OK, you're good to go" and sent me on to my gate...I didn't even have to open the suitcase.

 

I have a TSA luggage lock on the suitcase, the gun is taken apart (slide removed from frame) and both parts are locked in a GunVault personal safe which is cable locked to the suitcase frame. The safe is in my range bag, which is locked with a standard padlock. The range bag is locked to the suitcase frame with a 1/2" diameter bicycle cable lock and the compartment with the mags is also padlocked. If they want anything out of there, they'll have to go to more trouble than it's worth.

 

Maybe they could see all of the cables and locks on the x-ray? Plus, there's no ammo in there at all...I'll pick that up when I get there.

 

Other than all of the locking and securing of my equipment, the entire experience was pretty painless...I might even venture to say it was easy.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

 

Unless you have a carry permit in NJ I believe it may be illegal to fly out of Newark with a handgun.

A recent Third Circuit case said that FOPA does not apply to airports.

[magnawing 5]

No problem at all. I walked into the airport and went to the ticket counter and told them I have a firearm to declare in my checked bag. Took me all of 10 minutes to get checked in and head to my gate.

[magnawing 5]

Now, if you walk in with it in your hand, you may have a problem but as long as you're in compliance with NJ transport laws, it's not illegal to fly out of Newark. I'm so glad I'm in TX now where the gun guys aren't scared of going to jail for not breaking the law.

[Bushmaster1313 61]

No problem at all. I walked into the airport and went to the ticket counter and told them I have a firearm to declare in my checked bag. Took me all of 10 minutes to get checked in and head to my gate.

 

All possession and transport of handguns in New Jersey is illegal with certain statutory exceptions.

 

New Jersey transport laws allow us transport a handgun from the dealer to our home, possess it in our home, and transport it from our home to the range and from the range back to our home.

 

What statute allows someone without a carry permit to transport a handgun to Newark Liberty or to possess it there?

[DeerSlayer 241]

 

 

All possession and transport of handguns in New Jersey is illegal with certain statutory exceptions.

New Jersey transport laws allow us transport a handgun from the dealer to our home, possess it in our home, and transport it from our home to the range and from the range back to our home.

What statute allows someone without a carry permit to transport a handgun to Newark Liberty or to possess it there?

Your end destination is a place in which possession is an exemption. There's no deviation being made from home to the exempt location, where does it say in the law you "must transport within a car"? I didn't see the part in the statutes that said an airplane is not a legal means of transportation while traveling between exempt locations. Please show this to me in the transport law. Thanks. I would have to say it's perfectly acceptable to go to an airport for any means of air travel until a Boeing 737 can pick me up at my front door instead of having to pick me up at an airport... The airport is still part of my direct path between exempt locations, no deviation reasonable or not reasonable have been made, where has a law been broken in this scenario?

[changeling 0]

We have NJ law which is of course very restrictive on where we can transport to. Then we have FOPA which of course (arguably) loosens some of the restrictions.

 

If you're using FOPA to justify being able to transport via airplane to another state then I'm not sure it would apply if you live in NJ and go to a NJ airport. I believe FOPA ends once you take possession of the firearm again ("immediately accessible" limitation of FOPA) which would happen upon arrival at the airport (and so it would never actually have taken effect). At that point all that's left is NJ law and since there's no exemption in the law for transporting to an airport (without carry permit) it's probably illegal (or at the very least a prosecutor would claim it is).

 

I wouldn't mind being wrong here.

[Bushmaster1313 61]

http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/123621p.pdf
 

 

 

In our view, plaintiff here has failed to satisfy even the 

first requirement of the first step of the process, i.e., that 
Congress intended that section 926A benefit this particular 
plaintiff. This is evident from the plain meaning of the statute. 
Although the unwieldy sentence that comprises section 926A 
is drafted in a roundabout way, on a careful reading its 
language is clear and unambiguous. It begins by establishing
a clear positive entitlement: a person who meets its 
requirements “shall be entitled” to transport firearms in 
certain circumstances. Cf. Gonzaga, 536 U.S. at 287 
(contrasting the rights-creating language of “no person . . . 
shall be . . . subjected” with language typical of spending 
clause statutes, e.g., “no funds shall be made available.”). But 
the part of the sentence that immediately follows expressly 
conditions this entitlement as only being operative “if, during 
such transportation the firearm is unloaded, and neither the 
firearm nor any ammunition being transported is readily

directly accessible from the passenger 
compartment of such transporting vehicle.” 18 U.S.C. § 926A 
(emphasis supplied).
It is plain from the latter condition that the statute 
protects only transportation of a firearm in a vehicle, and 
requires that the firearm and ammunition be neither readily 
nor directly accessible from the passenger compartment of 
such vehicle. In particular, the word “such,” in “such 
transporting vehicle,” by definition refers back to earlier 
part(s) of the sentence, and the only parts it could possibly 
refer to are the parts referring to the transportation of a 
firearm or ammunition. The use of “such” therefore makes 
clear that the transportation the statute protects must occur in 
a “transporting vehicle.”

...

In light of the plain meaning of the statute, fully 
corroborated by the legislative history, we hold that section 
926A benefits only those who wish to transport firearms in 
vehicles—and not, therefore, any of the kinds of 
“transportation” that, by necessity, would be involved should 
a person like those represented by the Association wish to 
transport a firearm by foot through an airport terminal or Port 
Authority site.

 

[magnawing 5]

It's a non-issue. It happens quite often and TSA didn't change their lackadaisical demeanor when the ticket agent told them why the bag needed special attention. The only difference was I had to wait by the screening area until my bag was scanned and couldn't handle the bag after it was scanned until I got to my destination. My guess would be that a firearm in checked baggage leaving the state would be considered a "reasonable deviation", which is totally discretionary.

 

 

This signature is AWESOME!!!

[dman2112 6]

You not supposed to have a TSA lock on it. It's supposed to be a lock accessible only by you

[Jon 264]

You went way overboard on what you need to do. If that makes you more comfortable, then more power to you. I have flown out of Newark several times with a handgun. I lock the handgun and a box of ammo in a plano box(with a padlock) and stuff it in my unlocked suitcase. It takes all of 5 extra minutes more time to fill out whatever form/card my given airline requires and bring my bag to the TSA for x-ray. The X-ray is only intended to verify the gun is unloaded(you can easily see if there are rounds in the gun). 

[Bushmaster1313 61]

Comrades:

You no appreciate or understand New Jersey gun law.

All guns illegal in People's Republik absent wonderful exceptions granted by glorious legislature with much insight and wisdom.

No exception allow transport handgun to airport.

Failure to understand require you report now to reeducation center for eliminate reactionary idea Second Amendment protect individual People not Glorious Garden State.

[njpilot 671]

I've flown out of EWR probably at least 7 or 8 times with a firearm and once out of Trenton and nobody ever batted an eye when  I told them I was declaring a firearm.

 

Yes, by wording of the law and the Third Circuit case, it may not be totally legal. If I recall, the Third Circuit ruling didn't come from a case involving a NJ resident driving from their residence to the airport, it had to do with Revell, who stayed with his firearm in a hotel and then traveled to the airport. 

 

Any one of us could face the same situation if it was know we stayed in a hotel with the firearm and then traveled to the airport.

 

If any NJ resident did ever get arrested and charged at the airport for possession of a firearm that they were trying to legally declare and travel with, it would probably open a new bigger debate about the ridiculousness of the laws.

 

Basically the state is telling it's residents that they can't travel out of state with their firearm to compete in a match or take a training class unless they want to drive to TX? NV? FL?

[DeerSlayer 241]

Fopa has nothing to do with NJ residents within the state it doesn't apply. FOPA protects out of state travelers passing through the state.

[mipafox 438]

Your end destination is a place in which possession is an exemption.

There is no possession destination exemption for "Florida" in NJ statutes.

[mipafox 438]

 

I've flown out of EWR probably at least 7 or 8 times with a firearm and once out of Trenton and nobody ever batted an eye when  I told them I was declaring a firearm.

 

Yes, by wording of the law and the Third Circuit case, it may not be totally legal. If I recall, the Third Circuit ruling didn't come from a case involving a NJ resident driving from their residence to the airport, it had to do with Revell, who stayed with his firearm in a hotel and then traveled to the airport. 

 

Any one of us could face the same situation if it was know we stayed in a hotel with the firearm and then traveled to the airport.

 

If any NJ resident did ever get arrested and charged at the airport for possession of a firearm that they were trying to legally declare and travel with, it would probably open a new bigger debate about the ridiculousness of the laws.

 

Basically the state is telling it's residents that they can't travel out of state with their firearm to compete in a match or take a training class unless they want to drive to TX? NV? FL?

 

 

No, they ruled explicitly and directly that FOPA only covers you in a vehicle and specifically does not cover you walking from a vehicle into an airport to check you gun. Or walking anywhere for that matter. Such as, if you live in an apartment complex, walking to your car (public or common parking lot) so you can drive to another state.

 

3rd Circuit is NJ, that is the law of your land unless you take it to the US Supreme Court.

 

Or, heck, walking down 31 with a handgun in your backpack and saying you are going to West Virginia. Make an NJ court happy, because the Feds say FOPA ONLY applies in vehicles in the 3rd Circuit, never on foot, and airports are not magical places where the laws don't apply. You are not in a vehicle, even for a second, and FOPA does not apply. Refer to state law.