Have Gun, Will Travel
More Firearms Travel Tips From The Road
Last year was quite a year of travel for your humble correspondent. I keep a nice rustic leatherbound book in my suitcase that serves as a travel diary, and after tallying up the entries, I discovered I was “on the road” overnight for more than two full months last year. So far, 2025 has continued at the same pace.
Most of my travel — business and pleasure — involves firearms. Whether it’s a hunt in Arizona or visiting family in Florida, I nearly always take along a concealed handgun and frequently end up toting a full-size rifle case. When you add in the necessary camera gear, families with infants often look at the portable mountain of equipment I’m schlepping through the airport and think “Man, I’m glad we don’t have that much stuff to carry … ”
One major thing I like about traveling is learning. Sometimes you learn you’d rather have a rusty fishhook stuck in your eyeball than to sit for another hour during a flight delay in the Oklahoma City airport, but you’re always picking up knowledge while on the road. For our purposes, I’ve definitely furthered my education on how to take guns along, especially with regard to air travel.
We’ve talked about traveling with firearms several times on the GUNS Magazine Podcast and for basic how-to information, I’d suggest you start there. Yet, even as an old “road dog” during my last circle around the sun, I’ve learned a few more advanced gun travel tips I’ll share here. In no particular order of importance, they are:
While a classic leather suitcase lends panache to traveling, your gun travel case should be the best you can afford!
Invest in good quality gun cases
I’ve got several large plastic rifle transport cases from the major manufacturers and have logged tens of thousands of miles. However, — and I won’t mention the brand name — I recently toted one on a deer hunt and was shocked to discover on the baggage carousel at my destination that the corner had been broken off during the flight. I would have sooner believed you could break a chunk of concrete with a pillow than believe the baggage savages who live under the airport could damage such a case. Regardless, it reinforces the notion of “buy the best firearms travel cases you can afford.” My case was top quality and they still broke it; I’m guessing a knock-off cheaper version would have utterly imploded under the same treatment.
You might not be able to check-in for the return flight
This was one I had never considered, or maybe they just started this procedure. It turns out certain airlines won’t let you check in for your return flight using a phone app or computer if you checked a firearm on the outbound trip. Instead, you’ll have to personally visit the ticket counter, which you must do anyway since you’re declaring a firearm in your checked baggage. It makes sense, but unless you know why your phone app is showing “Error – see ticket agent,” you might waste a bunch of time trying to understand what went wrong.
Shooters and hunters tend to fly into places where this would be considered a large aircraft.
Make sure your gun cases are up to the rigors of bouncing around inside smaller aircraft.
Some ticket agents are anti-gun
I’ve had this happen once or twice over the last 40 years but my latest outbound flight involved a ticket agent who was clearly “put off” by the J-frame revolver in my luggage. I apologized for the extra paperwork — which is actually minimal — but he was clearly peeved by the very notion of owning a gun. His attitude didn’t cause me any grief or cost extra time but was a good reminder that even if the airline personnel don’t like guns, you’ll not make your life any easier by trying to argue or convince them how wrong they are. I just smiled, apologized and let him huff and puff while filling out the form. I then left Mr. Pouty Poopy Pants at the ticket counter and made my way to security without delay.
Where your luggage shows up is anybody’s guess
I’ve been on a half-dozen different airlines in the past year and it reinforces something I’ve noted before: procedures are completely different at every individual airline and every airport. Across the country, I’ve been to both baggage carousels and luggage offices to claim my firearm and it turns out I’m usually wrong 50% of the time. When the baggage conveyor clangs to stop and your bag or gun case isn’t there, don’t worry because it’s probably in the luggage office. Then again, if you stop by the luggage office first, don’t be surprised if they say, “Oh, don’t worry, it’ll be with the rest of the bags.” I’ve turned this into a game of “Luggage Bingo.” Pro tip: I always hide an Apple AirTag inside my bags, especially those with firearms. Having a secondary method to track your luggage reduces stress and anxiety!
Having a secure, lockable box for ammo is a good idea as Brent was recently reminded.
Put ammo in a secure box
Your spare ammunition — no more than 11 pounds, thank you — must be “securely boxed” or it can be stowed inside the locked hard-sided container with the unloaded firearm. I usually just throw a factory box of ammunition in my checked luggage and this is perfectly legal. However, I recently opened my suitcase and found ammunition everywhere inside, including in my toiletries kit. How a brand-new box of ammo manages to open itself inside a carefully packed full suitcase is beyond me, but I’m going to start placing my factory ammo inside a plastic box I can tape shut. I’d hate to end up with a flight delay because a baggage handler found mysterious loose rounds lying on the tarmac after they fell through a gap in my luggage zipper.
Want more online exclusives from GUNS Magazine delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our FREE weekly email newsletters.
