Nimrod,
Flying with a handgun in checked baggage is not that large a hassle - to some extent it depends on the airport you are flying OUT of.
For example, Denver Int'l Airport is the only one (in my experience) that requires you to have your baggage put on a cart and taken over a special TSA office in a remote corner of the airport, where your suitcase is run through an x-ray machine and a sticker applied to the suitcase. Not challenging - but it takes more TIME.
One other airport - possibly Knoxville? - also has the bag x-rayed out front - e.g. before you turn it in, but the process is real simple - roll your bag over to the station, they run it through, you can see the outline of the pistol on the monitor ('yup, thats a pistol'...), and you go turn the suitcase in at the TSP baggage counter. Again, it just takes an extra 20 minutes or more of time.
The rest don't - declare it, turn your bag in at the counter, and go.
All the other airports that I've gone through with a firearm in checked baggage are much easier. Two simple rules:
1. Know the rules. Make sure you have followed the rules.
2. Add a minimum of 45 minutes... better add an hour. You may not need it, but - especially when flying with a firearm, its better to be an hour early than 10 minutes late. So, instead of getting to the airport 1.5 hours early, get to the airport 2.5 hours early. So what. If all goes smooth you'll get through security and have a coffee.
In all cases the rules are pretty simple, and they appear here:
http://www.delta.com/traveling_chec...agile_bulky/sporting_goods/index.jsp#shooting
(Scroll down to "Shooting equipment". This is Delta's but most airline's are pretty similar and can be found on each airline's webpage.)
TSA rules appear here:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm
This is not rocket science:
* Make sure your handgun and all magazines are unloaded. Do not pack a loaded handgun or loaded magazines.
* The handgun must be transported in a locked, hard-sided case. (Not a zippered suede handgun rug). A sturdy case. It must be hard-sided. It must lock. DO NOT put either a TSA padlock or have TSA locks on the hard case. Regular Master padlocks will work fine, key or combo. Here is an example (this one is aluminum, but sturdy polymer cases will also work):
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20772&hasJS=true
* Put the locked pistolcase inside a hard-sided suitcase. I use a Samsonite hard-sided suitcase, but there are others.
(Hint: Buy the ones that are guaranteed for 10 years. Putting a pistol case and ammunition inside it is going to add weight, which will eventually mash out the corners of the suitcase...when you take this battered mashed-up POS to the store you bought it from, they scratch their heads and give you a new one. Don't ask me how I know this.)
* When you go to the ticket agent, simply say "I have a firearm in checked baggage, and need to fill out an orange tag". They will hand you an orange tag. Fill it out and sign it. Show it to them. They will tell you to put the orange tag inside your suitcase. Do so, then lock your suitcase. (Your suitcase SHOULD have TSA locks on it, or TSA might use a crowbar on it to open it and dork it up. Don't ask me how I know this.)
* To recap: Pistol case - hard-sided, locked, NOT with TSA locks -- Suitcase - hard-sided, locked, WITH TSA locks. TSA will look inside your suitcase, but they should not look inside your pistol case. (Instead, they should x-ray the entire bag and place a sticker on it.)
* Ammunition MUST be packed in the original box it was sold in. NOT in ziplock baggies, or those nifty little aftermarket plastic boxes. Factory ammo in the original factory box. There is a limit as to how much you can carry, but you don't care much, because the charge for overweight baggage is so outrageous that you're not going to carry that much in your suitcase anyway.
* Final hint: Each suitcase can only weight 50 lbs. If you have more than that, you have 2 options - either (a) take a second suitcase; or (b) pay a small fortune in overweight baggage fees. (No kidding - like $160 or more.) Weigh your suitcases in advance, so you are not the guy with your suitcase opened at the ticket counter trying desparately to repack your underwear and dop kit into your carry-on to make the 50 lb limit. [This is not tough. Stand on bathroom scale. Note weight. Grab suitcase. Stand on bathroom scale. Note weight. Subtract the first number from the second..... etc.]
So, traveling with a firearm requires some reading, some comprehension, some basic pre-planning, and some getting to the airport extra early. If you want a firearm where you're going, however, and you can legally possess it at your destination, then it isn't that difficult to take it there in your checked baggage.
Aside from a firearm, you should never travel without a small flashlight (in case you have issues with a rental car at night) and either a Swiss Army knife or a multi-tool (to open beer bottles with). As for the rest of it, its just weight and crap you don't need - and while the airlines may allow you to take an unloaded firearm in checked baggage, don't try that with a cylinder of compressed gas (OC pepper spray) or combustible items/butane lighters, etc. They get much more serious about those things than they do about unloaded firearms.
Hope this helps,
Doc
