Oh, Air Canada – and a bleg
CBC:
Some gun and hunting groups are boycotting Air Canada after the airline imposed a $50 surcharge on passengers who check their firearms as baggage.
The one-way handling fee went into effect on June 5 for tickets purchased on or after April 14, adding $100 to the cost of a return trip.
Air Canada says the surcharge will cover the cost of making sure firearms are declared, unloaded and secured in a case that cannot be easily broken into during transport.
BTW, I’ve not flown with a weapon since pre 9-11. Looks like I may start traveling some again. Anything new I need to be aware of in this post 9-11, freedom isn’t free era?
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:33 am
Only real change is that the TSA wants to fondle your gun now. I travel ALOT for work and usually take my gun along for the ride. SFO is the worst of the offenders. They will argue till the cows come home that you cannot lock your bag until after TSA has inspected it. And oh, BTW, the TSA inspection is in a restricted area so you can’t go with them. I end up with a TSA stoopidvisor and a local cop that walk my bag to screening. Everywhere else, you declare as normal and then lock up your bag. The ticket agent/supervisor or TSA person then takes your bag to screening. If TSA feels the need to investigate innards, they page you to open it. It all is VERY person dependant. Some times, I end up with a local or state cop, sometimes a TSA flunky. On those rare occassions, I end up with one wh actually knows something and we end up talking about gun choices and such.
Stay Safe,
John
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:34 am
Try flying with a bicycle. $50 is cheap for a bike. Still, if this isn’t about storage on the plane or loading requirements then it has to do with TSA being up the ass of the airlines, which puts them up the ass of passengers. I’ve been a customer of TSA because of my international travel requirements (Africa, Eastern Europe and — just found out — Central Asia). I’d rather deal with Border and Customs. At least they have some sort of educational requirement to get a job there.
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:48 am
John, does the weapon and ammo have to be packaged separately and locked?
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:56 am
You got that right. Back when I was racing mountain bikes, this was one of the more annoying (and expensive) burdens I would face. Of course, I could bring a dozen sets of golf clubs and they would gladly carry those for free.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Ammo must be stored seperate from the gun. For TSA folks it’s fine if you’ve got two hard cases inside your suitcase — one with ammo andone with the gun. Delta airlines is more strict — you need to put the ammo in a different suitcase than a gun.
Not sure what that buys them, but whatever.
Nobody is allowed to open up your gun case but you. Watch how fast the TSA forgets this rule.
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Flying Southwest between Nashville and Burbank maybe half a dozen times with a gun since 9/11 I’ve had zero problems. A few stunned looks and occasional confusion at the baggage check desk in Burbank but with the help of a supervisor it was smooth sailing. The last trip with a firearm was about a year ago when I flew home from Burbank.
I had my handguns fieldstripped in a locked hard case in a locked piece of luggage. I had them field stripped so it was easy to see that it was unloaded. No one asked about ammo but from past experience (maybe with Delta) I carried it in a separate bag.
In the old (pre 9/11) days you’d sign a declaration that the firearm was unloaded and usually just slip it into the bag with the gun. Now you sign the declaration and they want to inspect the weapon.
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Some of these rules must be fairly new. I flew Delta just a couple of years ago (it was 2003 at the very earliest) with a handgun checked as baggage, and I simply needed to declare it, and to declare that it was unloaded and in a locked case. The full magazine was in the locked case with the pistol, it just wasn’t in the pistol. Although apart from the ammo in the magazine, I didn’t have any additional ammo.
The check-in agent even put the orange “Declared firearm” tag inside the bag, attaching it to the pistol case itself, saying that putting it on the outside of the bag was just a “steal me” indicator. I’m inclined to agree. His way, if the TSA inspects the bag, it’s clear that the firearm was declared, and if they don’t, nobody needs to know it’s there.
I’ve seen people travel with long guns, and those it looks like they inspect at the check-in counter.
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:27 pm
They still use the steal me tags?
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:32 pm
As part of my move, I flew from Long Beach to D.C. with four handguns checked in a single rifle box on Jet Blue. No issues whatsoever. Not even the strange look I expected from a NY-based airline.
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:45 am
Yes, but they place them inside the case now rather than outside, so they’re better described as “Yup, that thing you stole was a gun all right” tags.