copwriter

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would update it, as the situation with firearms on Delta has changed.
Sometime after the shooting incident at the Ft. Lauderdale airport in January 2017 (while still at baggage claim, a passenger retrieved a gun that had been checked in a bag, and started shooting people), Delta revised their procedure on handling firearms in checked bags. The check-in procedure is still more or less the same, although I've noticed that the ticket counter agents are vocal about not showing them that the firearm is unloaded. Previously, about half of them wanted me to take the gun out of the gun safe/case and show them the empty chamber. Now, they just want to see the gun safe, and they take my word for whatever is inside it.
The ticket agent gives me the orange "FIREARMS UNLOADED" tag to sign, and I place it inside the suitcase, on top of the gun safe. So far, this is more or less how they have done things in the past.

Now, comes the departure from things past. In addition to the regular baggage claim tag, the ticket agent applies a special "CAGPT" (I'm told this means "Check and Give Protection To") tag to the bag, and the ticket agent tells me that I will have to claim the bag at the baggage office. It will not be placed on the baggage carousel. The CAGPT tag is not hidden. It is obvious, and to me fairly cries out, "Steal this bag, because there's a gun in it."
The suitcase I use is an aluminum Zero Halliburton ZRoller, which is costly, but the only bag that Delta has not managed to destroy within a year of first use. It's as pilfer-proof as suitcases go. That sets the bar pretty low, but it beats a nylon suitcase with a zipper than can be defeated with a ballpoint pen.
When I arrive at my destination, I find another insult. Delta, apparently trying to avoid another Ft. Lauderdale-type incident, wraps the suitcase with a large zip tie, so that it can't be opened without first cutting off the zip tie. This wouldn't bother me all that much, as I carry a pocketknife, but my pocketknife (forbidden in the passenger cabin by TSA) is locked inside the suitcase. The baggage agent suggested that I request assistance in cutting off the zip tie by the staff at my hotel.
I don't think so. Right outside the Delta baggage office at LAS is a Las Vegas Metro Police podium, usually staffed by a uniformed officer. I showed the officer my retired police ID, explained my dilemma, and he loaned me his Buck knife to remove the zip tie.
The next trip I took was to LAX. There, I learned some addition detail of Delta's handling policy. When I arrived at the baggage office, my suitcase hadn't quite made it there. While I was standing there, the baggage handler arrived with the suitcase, with no zip tie. He applied the zip tie (over my objection) in my presence. If Delta was concerned for the possible theft of the firearm, they would apply the zip tie at the embarkation point. But, no, they seek only to use this contrivance to make themselves appear proactive and inconvenience their customers. They were displeased when I produced my newly-purchased Style PS Leatherman tool (like most other multi-tools, but with no knife blade, thus TSA-legal) and cut off their zip tie. I dropped it on the baggage agent's desk and bid her a good day. By the way, my bag had been there for a while, and was standing with another dozen unclaimed bags, no more closely watched than another. In the past, before the zip tie days, I have found my gun-containing luggage standing outside the baggage office, where anyone could have come along and wheeled it away without showing any connection to it.
By the way, should you wish to duplicate my Leatherman PS tool tactic, remove the tool from your carry-on or pocket when you go through the TSA checkpoint, and drop it in the bucket for inspection. They'll let it through, but if they see it on the x-ray in your carry-on, they'll knock themselves out looking for it.
The next time I went through LAS, when I cut the zip tie off the bag in the baggage office, the baggage agent about lost her stuff. "You can't do that! You have to leave the airport before you can remove that zip tie!" I asked what law I was violating in so doing, and invited her to consult with the Metro cop outside her office.
I wouldn't do it because of the furor it would create, but in fact if I wanted to remove my firearm from the suitcase, load it, and put it in my holster while still at baggage claim, I would break no laws in so doing. Firearms are prohibited inside the "sterile" are of the airport, past the security checkpoints. In the perimeter areas, the same firearms laws that apply everywhere else are operative.
Incidentally, at the small airport (PSC) near my home, when I claim my suitcase, the baggage handler brings it into the carousel area after he has loaded the other bags onto the carousel, asks me for my ID, and gives me the bag. No zip tie, no third degree.
I can appreciate Delta's desire to avoid another Ft. Lauderdale incident, but, as with other airport security efforts, they are focusing on things, not people. El Al, despite being the national airline of one of the most besieged nations in the world, has an enviable security record. This is because they train and employ security agents who watch people, not things. If you are about to get onto one of their airplanes and are acting suspiciously, they will pull you out for a chat. If Delta wants to have one of their security people ask me why I am flying with a firearm, I'm happy to discuss it with them. I'll show them my retired police credentials and ask them to check my record that shows the last enforcement effort on my behalf was a speeding ticket in 1974 (which I paid).
So, for the record, I object to Delta first identifying my baggage as containing a firearm and making it an easier target. The CAGPT tag may suggest they give special protection to my bag, but there is not much evidence that they actually do. I further object to Delta limiting my access to my property by placing their zip tie around my bag.
I've let Delta know about this, but got not even an acknowledgement.