14 January 2010

Should you take a starter pistol on your next airline trip?

It's a sad but well-known fact that baggage handlers frequently steal items from bags checked during air travel.  The Wall Street Journal highlighted the problem in an article last month.
...baggage handlers were caught rifling through suitcases in the belly of airplanes in Hartford, Conn., pocketing laptops, cameras, iPods, GPS units, jewelry, watches and earrings...

Authorities attribute an escalation to the sour economy and to tighter security around cargo, which historically has been a target for thieves. Passenger baggage is now easier pickings. In addition, cost-cutting at airlines and police departments has reduced patrols and enforcement, officials say...

Both airline workers and TSA screeners have access to checked luggage, and it's often impossible to tell who is responsible unless a thief is caught red-handed...
Several years ago Cory Doctorow cited a suggestion that your bags would be better protected if you pack a gun.
A "weapons" is defined as a rifle, shotgun, pistol, airgun, and STARTER PISTOL. Yes, starter pistols - those little guns that fire blanks at track and swim meets - are considered weapons...and do NOT have to be registered in any state in the United States.

I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare...I'm given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me.
That's the procedure. The case is extra-tracked...TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero.
It's a great way to travel with camera gear...I've been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.
I wonder if that method is still valid and useful.

2 comments:

  1. As someone who has traveled with real guns several times, I can tell you that they're really no safer. The way the baggage is handled is done deliberately so that there is no outside marking that there is a firearm inside. Despite this, when checking firearms in obvious cases, they actually become a BIGGER target for theft. I personally know two people who have had guns stolen from their locked hard cases while flying.

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  2. The recommendation is not accurate nor complete for today. However, it *is* possible to travel by air with gun(s) locked in secure containers that are checked as baggage. Typically travellers are well-advised to put the locked gun cases inside other luggage, also locked, to avoid attracting attention to the contents of the luggage.
    But while in-transit, there is no extra marking on the outside of the luggage so there's no way for the baggage handler to know which suitcases might or might not contain a firearm.
    If you with to take a firearm in checked baggage, see BOTH the TSA and the airline's rules -- you must comply with both.

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