Make Sure the Airlines Don’t Lose Your Bags – Fly With a Gun
You read that right – if you want to make sure that an airline doesn’t lose your bags, or that TSA staff doesn’t steal things out of your bag, you should pack a gun in each bag that you check. It doesn’t even have to be a real gun – a simple, totally-legal-in-all-50-states starter pistol will do.
Boing Boing and security expert Bruce Schneier have more:
A “weapons” is defined as a rifle, shotgun, pistol, airgun, and STARTER PISTOL. Yes, starter pistols – those little guns that fire blanks at track and swim meets – are considered weapons…and do NOT have to be registered in any state in the United States.
I have a starter pistol for all my cases. All I have to do upon check-in is tell the airline ticket agent that I have a weapon to declare…I’m given a little card to sign, the card is put in the case, the case is given to a TSA official who takes my key and locks the case, and gives my key back to me.That’s the procedure. The case is extra-tracked…TSA does not want to lose a weapons case. This reduces the chance of the case being lost to virtually zero.
It’s a great way to travel with camera gear…I’ve been doing this since Dec 2001 and have had no problems whatsoever.
What a great tip! I have personally had my bags lost 6 times, once with no recovery at all. In that case, I had to go through the arduous process of itemizing everything in my bag (from memory!), watching the airline depreciate the value of everything I owned, only to receive a check a full 2 months later that barely covered half of the replacement costs. Not to mention my out of pocket expense for being on a week-long trip with no clothing, no personal items, nada. Or the time and frustration it took me to get the matter sorted out.
I’ve also had a couple of items come up “missing” from my bags on other occasions. I’m not pointing any fingers here, but they were in there when I packed the bag, and they weren’t when I unpacked it. What *was* there in each instance was a little card notifying me that my bag had been searched. (OK, so I guess I am pointing fingers.) Screw you, TSA.
I’ll be sure to pick up a few starter pistols and pack them with each and every bag that I check.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Be carefull in Connecticut! There is a statute outlawing “replica” firearms which includes starter pistols that look like real pistols.
Also, the possession in any state of a starter pistol that LOOKS like a real pistol can cause major inconvenience with the authorities, particularly if you don’t have a pistol permit.
January 25th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Good point, CAPT Steve. For the “inconvenience” reason you’ve stated, it is probably best to seek out the most unrealistic-looking starter pistol you can. Many have orange handles that are meant to distinguish them from real firearms.
I don’t know the law in Connecticut, but I’m nearly certain that the statute can’t prevent the mere possession of a replica firearm. (That would be unconstitutional.) It is probably written to outlaw the concealed carry of a replica firearm. Which would be, for instance, secreting the starter pistol in your coat pocket. Which should never be done. Instead, always carry the starter pistol in a locked case.
Do you happen to have any more information on the Connecticut law?