Account of Flying with Firearms

J A tale of getting escorted deep into the non-public areas of the Baltimore airport.
BWI --> RSW 2010-02-01	RSW --> BWI 2010-02-13

Luggage & Gear
Plano 10303 Gun Guard DLX Takedown Shotgun Case modified with two black hasps purchased at Home depot. Locked with two Master Lock 140Q's.

Outbound Travel
Airline check in went very smoothly in fact the attendant seemed knowledgeable regarding firearms and we had a short chat while I filled out the Declaration card and demonstrated that the shotgun was indeed empty. I feel that the front desk staff was familiar with the procedure and made no fuss about the whole thing.

The case was then tagged with a claims ticket, to the best of my knowledge this ticket was not an indicator of a firearm.

Secondary screening is where things became a bit of a hassle.

After grabbing a bite to eat I was paged over the airport speaker system which I half expected. I dutifully reported to the Southwest counter at my gate and was instructed to go to the baggage claim office. To do so I was forced to leave the secured/screened area. Upon arriving at the desk and explaining why I was there, I was informed that TSA needed the case opened and I should hand over my key so they could take it to the TSA agent. At that point based on my own research and the "cheatsheets" from deviating.net, I knew that is wasn't supposed to work that way. I pulled up the TSA website while I explained that I would not turn over my key because I am supposed to maintain control of the locked case and I could not do that if I surrendered the key. I then asked if I could be escorted to the screening area or a separate room to unlock the case, and was informed that that would be impossible.

After some discussion with the attendant I requested a manager, after the same discussion with the manager I showed her the portion of the TSA website where it instructs that I should be present for any open-case screenings. She then contacted TSA and after some back and forth I was informed the TSA supervisor was on the way to escort me to secondary screening. Sidenote: In one of the miscellaneous side conversations with a different attendant she insisted first that she told me that I would have to unlock the case, to which I explained I have no issue opening the case I have an issue with turning over the key, then she made comments about the use of non-tsa locks to which the manager and I immediately explained that was not the case and why.

Shortly thereafter the TSA supervisor who did not seem thrilled about having to escort me, but was in no way rude or unpleasant at anytime. I was logged into a visitor logbook and began my trek into the bowels of the airport. I was very clearly not in an environment designed for customer exposure, I would like to leave out specific details regarding the route or length of walk, Secondary screening was just above the employee break room. There did not appear to be a standard procedure for handling such an event. I was surprised that a large airport like BWI doesn't have a customer-facing secondary screening environment, something where I don't have to trudge through the airport's restricted areas to reach....

After reaching secondary screening I was asked to unlock the case, I did exactly that and they told me that the machine went off due to an unexpected object. Apparently that object was the firearm manual. I was then instructed to re-lock the case and that was that, I was then escorted back to passenger screening where I had to go back through security. Total time from leaving the gate desk to returning was approximately 45 minutes.

Upon arrival I popped over to the baggage claim desk because I was told that it should be pulled to the side and hand-carried to baggage claim desk. I just checked in and then went back to collect my non-firearm bag. Almost immediately after my bag came out on the carousel it was followed by my firearm case, the case appeared to be unmolested. I poked my head in the office and let them know what was going on and I was on my way.

Homebound Travel
Very much the same experience with the Ticket counter attendants on the return flight. The only difference was I was told that I merely needed to verbally declare the weapon was unloaded.

I presume secondary screening was uneventful (I had packed the manual in my luggage, just in case) But I was never paged or asked to open the case.

After arriving at BWI, I stayed at the carousel and waited for my bags. This time the case was diverted to the baggage counter. I headed over there and they asked if I was John, I said yes and gestured towards my case which was on the scale between stations. I showed gov't ID and picked up my bag. I glanced at it and noticed all of the latched were thrown and the lid was mis-aligned. I mentioned it to the attendant and asked if it would be alright if I opened the case and explained there was a firearm inside. She had no problem with it, I unlocked and opened the case and nothing seemed out of order everything was as I had left it.

My assumption is that TSA intended to open the case but was unable to. They then tried to pry the case apart to peek inside. There is no other indication of damage, the rim of the case is aluminum and appears undamaged. Again at no time was I paged or were there ever any apparent attempts to contact me, nor did the flight staff mention anything prior to boarding at RSW airport.

Final Details & Thoughts
This was a fascinating story of entry down into the bowels of the airport, being checked in as a "visitor", etc... so i left the bulk of the text in J's own words.

Air Travel Ratings
If you don't have the time or the desire to read the full text of someone's account of air travel, you can simply refer to the rating shown at the conclusion of each portion of that person's journey. The following criteria are used in assigning these ratings...

Four Stars	check-in - no hassle, no delay screening - in full view, lock and unlock yourself luggage - all on time and intact
Three Stars	check-in - some delay or mild hassle screening - somewhat obscured, locking and unlocking yourself or it's done directly in front of you luggage - all on time and intact
Two Stars	check-in - major delay or major hassle screening - in a room or area that you could not enter and could barely observe luggage - luggage opened non-destructively
One Star	check-in - flight missed or passenger delayed from flying, properly packed items denied as luggage screening - luggage unlocked and opened totally in another area fully removed from you luggage - destructive entry into luggage and/or tampering with firearms
Zero Stars	This is a special category for outright theft, loss, or damage of firearms during air travel
half-star results are possible... naturally, they involve partial or mitigated problems that somehow fall in-between the above categories