Flying into Baltimore

[ppgcowboy]

I usually drive wherever I go,if I fly I take a pistol. I need to fly to the belly of the beast, Baltimore.  I will then pick up a car, drive to North Carolina to visit my son and shoot, then up to Maine to visit and shoot. Then back home to Montana.

Question, anyone see a problem? I have never checked a class 3 and would welcome any and all input. I do have an ffl 03.

[TD.]

Great question. I would only fly with a checked machine gun if it was a direct flight. Then I would worry about the flight being diverted somewhere else and having to recheck the luggage. I have heard the New York City airports will arrest you if you try to check a firearm. If this were to happen, you could always just pick up your luggage and rent a car there. Hopefully, others on the forum have personal experience with flying with machine guns to unfriendly gun states. 

[hntrdarren]

Personally ppgcowboy I would not fly with a NFA gun. You will have to have a airline certified case with locks . Secondly you will have to sign an affidavit that your firearm is unloaded and you will have to give the airline the affidavit and your keys where they will unlock your case to inspect your firearm without your presence and hopefully put the locks back on and then return your keys. When I was traveling a lot hunting domestically and internationally  I did fly into cities that were not very friendly such as Chicago , Seattle, etc and hoped my firearm would show up at my final destination and undamaged. My bolt action rifle was lost for over a month coming home from the Yukon, and another time my rifle ended up in Hermosillo Mexico ahead of my flight I was on. I agree with  TD on  what can happen in todays airline service. I have had my firearm show up with locks missing on my gun case ,   busted gun cases , etc. The airline employees of the friendly skies are sometimes not so friendly and when they see a Thompson SMG they will probably freak out and call their supervisor which most airline employees wont know what’s legal or not and may confiscate your gun until the matter is resolved with someone that understands and knows the law traveling with machine guns, curio and relics and type 03 FFL. Hopefully you wont have any issues and have a wonderful time.

Edited March 9 by hntrdarren

[ppgcowboy]

I am almost there too. My head hurts thinking about it. Want to share, but also wanting to say come see me. I may just settle on a pistol only and just play golf on the trip. Still curious if anyone flys with them as check in.

[ppgcowboy]

Direct flight is a good point. I can fly to Las Vegas, very cheap out of Montana, grab luggage, and then have a direct flight to Baltimore. 

[signal_4]

While I’ve never flown with an NFA item or a rifle, I have checked pistols I was bringing back from Oregon to Texas that my mom gave me. It was very easy actually.
 

First get a new TSA approved case (Amazon has them)  and you don’t have to turn over any keys as they already will have the key to the TSA approved built in lock already. Just open the case at check in so the agent can verify it’s unloaded and without ammo. 
 

Then at the destination go back to the ticketing counter and tell them you checked a firearm and wait till they bring it to you. 
 

Thats been my experience. Again just pistols and never NFA, but I can’t imagine the process is any different other than maybe showing some additional paperwork 🤷🏻‍♂️. 
 

My flights were also not direct 

Edited March 9 by signal_4

[bradhe]

Let me correct some misconceptions  (I fly with guns to shooting matches all the time).  

- You need a sturdy case.  Test is stand on the bed of a pickup truck, raise your case over your head and throw it on concrete.  If that makes you cringe, get a better case.

- You lock a gun case with NON-TSA locks that you retain the key for.  TSA is not allowed, and physically can't open it out of your presence.  That said, depending on the airport, the airline may take you to TSA where they will ask to open it and inspect.  When done, you relock with you keys and they take it away.  I have flow out of SFO this way a number of times without issue.

- The form is no big deal.  It is a little orange tag that the check in attendant will ask you to fill out and then put in the case.  You are just certifying it is unloaded.

-All that said, I have never flown commercially with a machine gun.   I suspect to the average uninformed airline employee or TSA agent a basic AR pattern rifle looks more scary than a Thompson, and with the NFA item you have official looking paperwork.

- I would never fly into or out of any location or connection where my possession of the firearm in question was not legal

[Countryboy77]

If your staying with family you can ship it to yourself as you would a dealer ,but you would have to be there to accept it.Also All State and local laws need followed.Now If your staying at a motel you can get mail but somthing like that I woukdnt chance unless you tracked it and was waiting for the truck to get there.Only a Transfer needs to go to or through dealer.If its staying in your hands.You can split it into 2 packages if that makes you feel better.I NEVER deal with airlines.if your flight is rerouted no problem. I never bring a firearm to the airlines NEVER.Too much trouble but i do remember a couple days before thanksgiving waiing on the Fedex man.

Edited March 10 by Countryboy77

[johnsonlmg41]

I just put them back in my pocket after the x-ray machine.  Course those were HK sears on my keychain😉

I shipped the hosts to myself.   If I were to do a gun, I'd check it, or next day air it depending on how bad you want to shoot and what you want to spend?  It's not as bad of a process as you'd think?  As for flights....well that's a gamble every time depending on where you're going and when?  I've had one bag get delayed/ not forwarded to a connector in over 40 years....maybe I'm just lucky? 

I drive if it's less than 10 hours since that's how long it takes for a 2 hour flight by the time you get there, park, fly, get a rent car, etc.

[Rabbit57]

I flew to the TATA meeting in OH a couple of years ago. I bought a Pelican case, and four locks that used the same key. I showed up at the airline counter, they wanted to see the gun so I opened the case, they put a card into the case, and they asked me to wait 20 minutes just in case TSA wanted me to open the case before they put it into the belly of the plane. I waited the 20 minutes, and headed for the gate. No problems at all. 
I did change planes in Dallas, no problems. When I got to Columbus, I did have to wait for all of the luggage to be unloaded, they brought my Pelican case to a special office and I had to show my drivers license. Really, it was no big deal. The return trip to Tucson was a repeat of my trip to Columbus. 

I did a dry run to the airport a month or so before my trip, I had never traveled with a firearm before, much less a class 3 gun. The guy at the airline counter told me I had done everything correctly, and that I should have no trouble. He was right. 

Good luck, if your experience is anything like mine, you should be fine.
 

[Lewisfan]

A heads-up: I booked American for a trip to hunt with my son. I was taking a hunting rifle. Everything listed in the post above applies BUT...American partners with other airlines and one of my connections was via Alaska Air.  Everything I booked only referenced American (in fact I booked the trip with miles).

The rub was that Alaska requires something like 3 days advance notification that you're traveling with a weapon. Solution was to rebook the trip with different connections avoiding Alaska Air altogether.  

Beware of the connections and beware of destination restrictions on mag capacities (and any other local firearm restrictions). 

[2ndArmored]

It depends.  (Great answer, eh?)

Similar to what others have said:

1) Fly non-stop.  Fewer baggage handlers means fewer chances for loss or theft.

2) Get a bomb-proof case with serious locks.  (Any latch that can be locked must be.)

3) You sign a tag asserting that the weapon is unloaded and you have the only keys.  Easy.  In 12 years I've never had anyone ask for my paperwork.  Mags must be empty too.

Different:

4) I partially disassemble my weapons so they look less scary.  Less likely to get a TSA agent nervously asking for a supervisor while the PA announces the final boarding call for your flight.  (Lesson learned.)

5) I've had both experiences - The locked case and I are escorted to a back room, I unlock it, the agent inspects everything.  Then I lock it, keep the keys, and wave goodby to my case.  I've also been told "Give us the keys and wait here." as they take your case/gun to the back room. They come out and give you your keys and you have to pray your gun is still in the case - and locked - and on its way to the airplane instead of the inspector's POV.  That's nerve-wracking as hell.

6) I likewise have flown into Cleveland and the case was waiting for me in a special room.  I had to show ID to retrieve it.  Kudos all around.  Antithetically, I flew into DFW last summer and my case was put on the carousel with all the other passengers' luggage where anyone could have just walked off with it.  LAX is somewhere in between.  The case was in a special area overlooked by an employee.  (Envision a cowboy and his cattle.)  Sometimes they ask for ID, sometimes they don't.

It comes down to the ratio of time/money/convenience/headaches.  There's probably an equation for it.

Edited March 11 by 2ndArmored
omitted word

[ppgcowboy]

So I called the Maryland State Police and got  pretty far up the chain to talk to someone in the know...I think. After a little talk and clarification, he made it clear that a prohibited weapon was in no way shape or form welcome in the State of Maryland and upon landing their absolutely would be problems. If I could fly into North Carolina this may work, but flying into the peoples republic of Maryland may not work. It really is too bad that States like that cannot be sued and held accountable for violating the rights of Americans. Thanks to all for your input.

[Grasshopper]

Hi All,

So much for the FOPA.

Years back the max insurance an airline would provide was $5k.  Not sure if that changed but that doesn't cover much in the NFA world.

Grasshopper

[Rekraps]

Don't. 

[Countryboy77]

On 3/9/2025 at 8:59 PM, Rabbit57 said:

I flew to the TATA meeting in OH a couple of years ago. I bought a Pelican case, and four locks that used the same key. I showed up at the airline counter, they wanted to see the gun so I opened the case, they put a card into the case, and they asked me to wait 20 minutes just in case TSA wanted me to open the case before they put it into the belly of the plane. I waited the 20 minutes, and headed for the gate. No problems at all. 
I did change planes in Dallas, no problems. When I got to Columbus, I did have to wait for all of the luggage to be unloaded, they brought my Pelican case to a special office and I had to show my drivers license. Really, it was no big deal. The return trip to Tucson was a repeat of my trip to Columbus. 

I did a dry run to the airport a month or so before my trip, I had never traveled with a firearm before, much less a class 3 gun. The guy at the airline counter told me I had done everything correctly, and that I should have no trouble. He was right. 

Good luck, if your experience is anything like mine, you should be fine.
 

I might try this with a $1200 riflescope setup or a pistol but certainly not a $25000+ transferrable.If its lost you will Never be compensated.Not a chance woukd i risk it.it would be cheaper to buy everyone tickets to come to my state instead.Tell my son tell the family there comming to grandpas.

[Old Sensei]

This is not a direct answer, but may be helpful in a round-about way.  Retired LEOs with 15 or more years experience, who have passed a yearly firearms test administered by a police agency, etc. etc. may carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the United States.  Obama signed this as a small part of larger legislation.  Why?  It is an unfunded federal mandate.  Yet, there are some states that offer a mechanism to do this.  You also have to carry all sorts of ID, etc.

Yet, certain big city agencies, have decided that they will discouraged such practices.  One has an unwritten policy if anyone is found carrying a handgun that they should be held a day to "check" on the validity of the paperwork.  Possibly in the drunk tank.  An example of a law would be the of Hawaii.  If you enter the state with the handgun and paperwork, you need to present yourself within three days to the chief of police of a large city.  Of course, this probably means the chief will be too busy to see you for a long time.  In addition, the questions that you would be asked, would be extremely prejudiced

My point is that if retired LEOs, who take the time and trouble to qualify, keep various identification cards on them, etc. cannot escape jumping through hoops, pity the poor civilian who ends up in one of these geographical locations.  In addition, consider the lawyers fees, showing up for court (which will be cancelled so you can travel back and forth), etc.  

 

[LDog2012]

While it may be against my better judgement, I will be flying into Dayton and bringing my M1A1 to the TCA in May. I would rather drive, but 10-12 hours in the car is not my idea of fun. I have $50k commercial travel coverage and will put an Apple air tag in the case and hope for the best.