My R9s drew a crowd...

[flyandscuba]

When I checked in at the Delta counter Sunday morning for my flight to Seattle, I went through the normal routine with the clueless ticket personnel as I "declared" a firearm in my checked luggage.

Haveing signed and placed the "unloaded firearm" card in the locked case (the Delta rep never looked at the gun), I had to take my luggage to the TSA table for screening.

The two guys working at the table this particular morning must have been gun nuts.  When I informed them of the presence of the firearm, they went through the customary check -- usually done very discretely and quietly.  Well, to my surprise -- one of the guys noticed what I had wasn't your average pocket pistol (the other guy thought is was a .380 of some type) -- as he looked closer he saw 9mm engraved on the chamber.  

Seemingly not believing what he had seen, he proceeds to remove the pistol from the case and inspect more closely -- uh, in the view of everyone in the ticketing area! (women gasping and grabbing their children, etc.)  Well, before I know it -- two other TSA gun nuts came over from an adjacent table to look for themselves...and pass it around the crowd to cop a feel.

I wish that I had Rohrbaugh brochures or business cards for Eric, cause they all wanted to know where they could get one!  I could have sold them faster that hot Krispy Kremes!  Finally, everything was locked up and placed back into my checked baggage, sealed and screened.

As I made the hike up to the gates, I could only ponder if my expensive "travel gun" would arrive safely in Seattle -- I only had 8 or so hours to think about it...

It did arrive safely -- though before I did.  I turns out an earlier flight left Atlanta for Seattle while I was sitting in the terminal on a 3 hour layover.  So, the luggage -- with gun and Gold Dots inside -- sat on the floor of the Seattle baggage claim area for an undetermined length of time before my arrival. (It just goes to show that the "rule" of your luggage having to travel on the same plane as you do is a crock)

Needless to say, I couldn't get to my National rental car quickly enough to rip open the suitcase and retrieve my R9s.  Loaded up and snugly secured into my Hedley holster, I placed it in my jeans pocket as I ventured into the liberal wild of the "big" city...

[Michigunner]

flyandscuba,

I'm glad you safely got out of hurricane  country.

I used to read the American Practical Navigator, by Bowditch. Someone said if you ever were in a hurricane at sea, you would never want it again.

I got sick doing a sailing boat off the Maine coast for a week.

That R9 is really something!  I may start showing mine a little more.

My son-in-law will probably shoot it Labor Day.  He will be surprised how it kicks.

Bill  

[chameleon]

Cool story...I kept thinking that someone other than you was going to be the new proud owner of a R9.
I'm happy to read that the inspectors were enthusiasts, and knew what you had was something of a rarety.

Glad it all worked out for you.

[Fud]

(women gasping and grabbing their children, etc.)

Not to be sexist, but I see this reaction a lot. I once handed my CCW license to someone by mistake when they asked for ID for some dumb reason (I have more than one CCW and by accident I pulled out my CCW from another state instead of my Driver's License from my home state) and the woman, upon seeing what it was dropped it like it contained some kind of disease or something. Then, she carefully picked it up and carried it with the tips of her fingers, again, as if it carried some sort of disease and she was trying not to be infected.

Ironicly enough, I had just got done volunteering at my daughter's school so I wasn't even armed at this time yet this was her reaction to a plastic government issued ID card.

It did arrive safely -- though before I did.  I turns out an earlier flight left Atlanta for Seattle while I was sitting in the terminal on a 3 hour layover.  So, the luggage -- with gun and Gold Dots inside -- sat on the floor of the Seattle baggage claim area for an undetermined length of time before my arrival. (It just goes to show that the "rule" of your luggage having to travel on the same plane as you do is a crock)

See? It's for this reason that I don't understand why the gun can not be brought on the plane in your carry on luggage and the ammo placed in the checked luggage. This would ensure that there was no possible way for a bag with a gun in it to be lost or stolen because it would be under the constant control of the owner. And how much harm can somebody do with an unloaded gun? The knives they issue in first class can inflict much more harm than an unloaded gun.

[theirishguard]

The simple fact of todays life is that guns, any kind, are bad. Even when watching a hunting show on TV, they have to warn the women and children that shots may be taken and animals killed.
What is this world coming to.........
Same thing happened at the UPS place one time when I was shipping a WW2 Bren gun. Everyone ducked and almost hit the deck. Then the supervisior came out and said they could not ship it because it was not in its original factory box.
At that point I told them to repack it and I went across town to the main UPS place and shipped it no problem. They never even looked.
Tom

[Aglifter]

...I'm so glad I live in rural TX....

[R9SCarry]

I'm so glad I live in semi rural SW PA

Fly - excellent story there and I too have found some amazed looks when letting folks at shoots etc handle the pup.  They can't believe it!

[jarcher]

See? It's for this reason that I don't understand why the gun can not be brought on the plane in your carry on luggage and the ammo placed in the checked luggage. This would ensure that there was no possible way for a bag with a gun in it to be lost or stolen because it would be under the constant control of the owner. And how much harm can somebody do with an unloaded gun? The knives they issue in first class can inflict much more harm than an unloaded gun.

Because ammo packed one round at a time is not oing to be found on xray when they check your carry on.  It's just too small and can look like too many other things.  

Personally, I think anyone with a CCW should be allowed to carry on a plane.  The more armed passangers, the less chance a hijacker has to take control.  I don't understamd opposition to arming the pilots!  So lt's are mte flight crew and passangers!  

[Fud]

I think anyone with a CCW should be allowed to carry on a plane

There ya go  

[theirishguard]

I agree, however, they don't really want pilots to carry.
Tom

[Michigunner]

I want the pilots to be armed, and each flight to include  armed marshals wearing plain clothes.

Bill

[jarcher]

I want the pilots to be armed, and each flight to include  armed marshals wearing plain clothes.

Bill

They we'll need as many FAMs as there are US Marines.