Air Travel With Guns

There may be some who fly domestic commercial airlines, with guns, more than me, but there aren’t many!  I’ve written many Quips on this subject, doing my best to provide competent guidance to those with less experience.

As most of us know, TSA and most commercial airlines permit guns to be transported on domestic flights in checked baggage, so long as they are unloaded and secured within locked, hard cases.

Most handguns now come to the consumer in lockable, hard cases, which can sometimes be used for this purpose. However, the system used to lock these cases often does not meet TSA standards.  And, many of these cases are needlessly bulky and heavy.

It is my recommendation that when you travel with handguns, the guns themselves be within a suitable and locked hard case, and that the hard case then go inside unostentatious, “normal-looking” luggage.  I’ve traveled this way on hundreds of flights and encountered few problems.

Now a new company, called TravelArmorCase®, is making hard cases specifically designed for air travel, and I highly recommend them!  I’ve been flying just about all of last year with Travel Armor cases.  They’re light, so they don’t add much weight.

They’re strong, and the locking system is the one TSA likes most! Their current line-up includes single and double-pistol cases, and magazine cases.  An M4 case is on the drawing board! TravelArmorCase® enjoys my recommendation.  I’ve tested them extensively and use them regularly.

John Farnam, police officer and decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is one of the top defensive firearms instructors in the nation. He has personally trained thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement agency personnel, many private security agencies, foreign governments, and hundred of civilians in safe gun handling and the tactical use of the defensive firearms. He has authored dozens of magazine articles, five books, written several handgun manuals, produced numerous training videos, and has written a model Use of Force Policy. His books, The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning, Second Edition, The Farnam Method of Defensive Rifle and Shotgun Shooting, Second Edition and Guns and Warriors, Volume One have become the standard texts on the subjects. John is a Senior Board Member of the Armed Citizens legal Defense Network and the Association of Defensive Shooting Instructors.. In June of 1996, he was selected by his peers to receive the renowned "Tactical Advocate of the Year" award from the National Tactical Association. In April of 2009, he was inducted into Black Belt Magazine’s “Living Legends.” In November of 2011, he was elevated to the rank of Kyoshi Sensei within the American Marital Arts Association. . In November of 2019, John was elevated to the rank of Sensei, Shodan 1st Degree Black Belt in Hojutsu-Ryu by its founder, Jeffrey Hall