Are Firearms Now Allowed On Airliners?

Yes, in your check-in baggage, not as carry on luggage. Apparently, some people just didn’t get the memo on this. In 2017, TSA agents intercepted 3,957 firearms at 239 airports across the country, averaging 76.1 guns per week, or 10.8 per day. It looks those numbers will be exceeded in 2018.

Most of us can guess that the fine and / or penalty for having a firearm in carry-on bag would be stiff. How stiff? Is it a flat dollar amount fine with a set amount days in jail or prison? No, in fact there are many factors that can aggravate or mitigate your transgression. Here are some:


As a general matter, TSA considers the following aggravating and mitigating factors:
1. Significance or degree of the security risk created by the violation;
2. Nature of the violation (whether the violation was inadvertent, deliberate, or the result of gross negligence);
3. Past violation history (compliance should be the norm, this factor is considered only to assess the need for an increased sanction);
4. Violator’s level of experience;
5. Attitude of violator, including the nature of any corrective action taken by the alleged violator;
6. Economic impact of the civil penalty on the violator;
7. Criminal sanctions already paid for the same incident;
8. Disciplinary action by the violator’s employer for the same incident;
9. Artful concealment; and
10. Fraud and intentional falsification.

This article takes a look at some of the guns that were intercepted and at what airport. Some real surprises here:

TSA and Gun Interception News

Lessons for gun owners:

1. If you use your range bag for a carry-on bag, double and triple check it not only for guns, but for magazines and ammunition, which are also prohibited items. FYI, if you enter Mexico with so much as ONE round of live ammo, there is a very strong possibility that you will find yourself in a Mexican jail.

Have someone that you trust check your bag after you have done so.

2. Lesson derived from #1: Don’t use your range bag, cheapskate. Buy another bag for travel purposes only.

3. If you are caught, be humble and apologize profusely. Lecturing a TSA agent on the 2nd Amendment will almost assuredly result in the maximum penalty and and fine.

At Semper Firearms Training we encourage you to buy a good firearm, get trained in how to use it, get a Nevada CCW permit, and continue your firearms training as part of a defensive lifestyle.

Please be sure to watch these two important videos and to send the links on to a friend.

Good Guys With Guns:

Innocents Betrayed:

Images courtesy of Oleg Volk