Wanting to run the following by the FT hive mind. I’ll preface by saying that had my own father not personally had this experience I would not have believed it. Curious as to if others have ever had a similar experience.

Visiting my parents in FL this week and asked my dad about a hunting trip he took from TLH-MOT about a month ago.

He said it went well, despite a rough start leaving TLH. When he went to checkin his firearm, the agent working the SkyPriority line in TLH at first tried to deny his firearm claiming the case wasn’t secure enough, and could be pried open. While this is an older gun case, I have seen it and can figure out no way it could be pried open with the existing locks. My father, who only flies two-three times a year, has flown with this case many times without issue. The DL agent insisted the case wasn’t secure enough, but offered to sell him a lock for $10
to properly secure it. My dad, obviously not wanting to miss his trip, agreed and paid. The agent then went to the back, brought out a new padlock, along with a cordless drill, and actually drilled a hole in the case next to the many existing locks! The agent secured the lock, collected the $10, and my dad was on his way.

I confirmed with him multiple times this was a DL agent, not TSA, but however can’t verify as I was not there.

My question is: Is this a service DL normally provides? I’ve never heard of such a thing, and wouldn’t really believe it occurred had it not happened to him.

FWIW, when leaving MOT, he asked the checkin agent there if the case would have been an issue without the new lock, and the agent was amazed to have heard about the drama he had leaving TLH and assured him it would’ve been fine as it originally was.