I am heading to South Dakota on a pheasant hunt in a couple of weeks and I need to start getting my gear together. I will be checking my shotgun on my trip and does anyone here have any experience/ advice/ difficulty checking a firearm?

Of course I am hesitant about checking bags in the first place, but my Beretta????

BTW I was able to score a sky saver (25k miles) to Sioux Falls, SD in December! Who wants to go?

The firearms must be unloaded and in your checked baggage (of course).

You must declare to the check-in agent that you have unloaded firearm(s) in your checked baggage.

The ticket agent (or more likely the station manager) will generally inspect the firearms, and the bag(s) will then be sealed and checked to your final destination.

Have a nice trip, and try not to shoot any friends in the legal profession (a la Cheney).

Acceptance

When a passenger, online or interline, presents a gun case to be checked as baggage or states that a firearm is contained in any luggage to be checked, the agent checking the baggage must:
Advise the passenger that any firearm in checked baggage must be unloaded
Advise the passenger that handguns must be locked in a hard sided container with the key or combination retained by the passenger
Have the passenger sign a firearm(s) unloaded declaration tag (Form 0412-80605)
Validate the declaration tag
Discreetly open the luggage/gun case and place the declaration tag inside the luggage/gun case.
Advise the passenger to remain inside the area until security screening is completed in the event access to the bag is necessary.
No handguns, firearms, or explosive devices may be carried in the cabin or cockpit of any Delta Aircraft.
Exception: Guns may be carried by authorized Law Enforcement Officers (LEO's) in the cabin per standard practice (SP2061)
Authorized civil or military law enforcement officials must have documents stating the mission that requires them to carry firearms between Delta Cities. See SP2061.
Federal Agents do not need orders or documents. Their valid Federal ID is sufficient. See SP2061.
Any other individuals requiring the carriage of firearms must have authorization from the Delta Senior Vice President of Operations
Small arms ammunition:
Applicable to Delta only
Must be packed in the manufacturer's original package or securely packed in fiber, wood or metal boxes.
Maximum weight:
11 pounds (5 kilograms) gross weight per passenger
Amounts exceeding the weight maximum will not be accepted
Excess weight may not be combined into two or more packages

Like the OP said above you can put in your Checked Baggage, but the box, that you but your gun in must be locked with a key lock or combination that you and you only keep and know.

I travel regularly with my shotguns (as a matter of fact, just got back from South Dakota), and it is really a simple totally no hassle process. In fact I have never had any problems (missing or delayed), gun cases seem to get special treatment in baggage handling. Details are available on DL website I think (looks like they were posted), but basically, you need a good quality (to survive the abuse) LOCKABLE (must be locked) gun case. I have used a John Hall case (which are unfortunately no longer available) for about 15 years and it is just now about dead and will be replaced with an Americase. At check in, tell the agent you need a firearms declaration card, which you sign (declaring your gun unloaded) and put INSIDE your guncase. It is very rare to have the agent inspect the guns (in my experience less than 1 in 10 times), most wouldn't know what they are looking for anyway. No ammunition with the guns. That's it. If the security screening is where you can see it, it is a good idea to wait until they clear the gun case in case they need to open it, otherwise they will instruct you on what to do with the locks for screening. Hope that helps.

I know this process is designed to both respect the rights of gun owners and the safety of Delta employees, passengers, and the general public, but am I the only one who feels uneasy just reading about this? I guess there are some things I would rather not know about.

Moving to Travel Safety/Security Forums. Please continue to follow there.
Thanks---
Obscure2k
DL Moderator

Why would you feel uneasy? The US Constitution gives US citizens the right to bear arms. US Federal law permits the interstate transport of legal firearms such as shotguns and rifles. People who own their firearms legally and are transporting them legally are not usually the source of problems in the general public. They are usually just people going hunting or avid skeet and trap shooters. I used to regularly take my Browning Citori with me to shoot skeet.

Sounds like a pretty well thought-out procedure to me. I would have serious issues if someone not qualified or trustworthy with firearm handling (like a TSA screener) got involved, though.

Count me in as one who is more comfortable knowing that citizens can be armed in this country, both as a deterrent to criminals and corruption/tyranny.

ts not like the passenger has the weapon, on the plane in the cabin, its underneath in the Cargo hold. The only ones that will have them in the cabin is Federal Agents, Police Officers and Sky Marshalls.

This was very helpful. We are going hunting this weekend in another state, and my husband is bringing his rifle on the plane for the first time. I am reassured to know they are handled carefully, I was worried.

Yup. The gun is going to wake up in the baggage hold, crawl over to the ammo box, open it, load itself and then proceed to shoot up the plane. Horribly dangerous!

I respect that. I didn't express myself very well. When I said I feel uneasy, I meant it in the same way I feel watching surgery, or knowing that the aircraft may be transporting live organs for transplant. It's just something I geet queasy about. Rather like some people are uncomfortable with spiders, for example.

hehe!
I'm not sure I said "dangerous" anywhere in my OP (in fact, I just reread it and I didn't use the word "dangerous"
Perhaps another example might help - want to see me turn a strange shade of grey and feel sick to my stomach? Describe knee surgery in graphic detail to me. That's how I felt reading the description of the process for transporting firearms. Just like knee surgery, there's nothing wrong with transporting firearms - in fact, just like some people benefit from knee surgery, some people benefit from being able to transport firearms.

Brilliant! I couldn't stop laughing when I read that! Thanks for bringing a bit of humour into my day

Anyone know when tyranny hunting season opens? I always wanted a stuffed tyranny over the fire place.