I have travelled to, from and within the USA - probably up to about 30 or 40 Int & domestic check ins combined by now.. with firearms.

Never had a problem. My experiences are much like the one described by the OP... quick and professional. Don't recall the case ever being "unpacked" however. Maybe not always the "friendliest" (except in DEN where the TSA guys we dealt with, while retaining their professionalism, were a HOOT!) but I'm not really sure that is grounds for even a minor complaint....

I have carried a powder thrower in my hand luggage (I had been loading/shooting Pyrodex loads that trip - a Black Powder substitute if that helps) and it was pulled out and wiped.. I thought THAT swab would cause the machine to react.. but no... sporting propellant residues clearly are NOT a problem (IME anyway!)

The screener I was dealing with was quite confused by this device of mine so she (quite rightly IMO) followed "procedure"..... another screener several machines away must have been a handloader.. he kept trying to tell her "It's OK, it's just a powder thrower!"

On a LESS happy note.... We had always been told that transiting - even NYC - was not a problem as long as we carried the registration confirmation for the competition we were on our way to....

Not sure I would now feel safe doing so.... If US citizens are being harassed like this.. what chance has a foreigner got?

Simple (but possibly more $$$) solution of course... avoid such transit citys....

Three years ago one of my classmates spent the night in Jail in NYC for having a legal handgun but transiting through NYC (airport). I dont know the details other than that, but he got a laywer to get him out the next day. I do know they did not give him his handgun back.

Some states require a handgun saftey certification card (a small test you take to show basic saftey) to purchase a handgun (not rifle), but there is no state that I know of that requires a "gun permit". As long as you dont have a criminal record, it is a right that all citizens have.

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/Federal/Read.aspx?id=74

Apparently not there.

Read the stories, You would gag seeing what happened to these people who broke no laws and were operating within FOPA.

Ridiculous. NYC airports and PAPD of NY NJ should loose millions on civil suits.

It's truly sad.

I checked a Winchester shotgun in case on AA from PHX to DFW this summer. Oddly, the TA asked me to open the case and clear it (show her that the weapon was not loaded). I was a bit surprised as I didn't think some random, female (don't mean to be sexist there) agent would know what the hell she was looking at.

Anyway, I unlocked the case, pulled out the shotgun at the ticket counter, with people in line behind me, and pumped that sucker as loud as I could. She actually jumped a bit.

Anyway, it went through TSA locked and they just scanned it through the machine. Came out in DFW in the spot where golf clubs come out.

No problems.

Bet you got some folks attention doing that!

I actually thought I'd get dive-tackled by LEO's. Some idiot with a shotgun at the ticket counter must raise some red flags. Apparently not. Apparently, it's just liquid that really ruffles their feathers.

Yes it does make a difference, as [the relevant section of] FOPA '86 only protects those IN TRANSIT - the firearm must be legal at point of origin and at destination. If you weren't supposed to be able to have it where you started from, you're still on the hook for criminal possession. This is not a Second Amendment board, so I'll attempt to resist further pontification .

There are numerous cases, at least one referenced on this board IIRC, where travellers have been hassled (up to and including being thrown in jail) for travelling with a declared firearm through NYC airports.

True, but I would think it would still hit for the nitrate content. Smokeless powder should hit for the amount of nitrates present, the same as would nitroglycerine, given what I know of how GC/MS technology works (which is what the ETD uses). Still, I have had bags which have contained recently-fired handguns just prior to the trip which have not alarmed at ETD... hmm. But my laptop has alarmed ETD after being in that bag... methinks the ETD machines aren't as accurate or precise as they should be.

As above, I'm surprised, given what I know of how specific ETD machines in use at airports work, that there was no alarm given the nitrate content of pyrodex... but your experience matches mine. I've used my range bag as a carry-on before (don't anymore; I have other bags for that) and had it swabbed a day after having been at the range without it alarming, despite it having contained several handguns fired that day + used brass in quantity.

I had the same thing happpen to me in Fort Myers,FL.

Instead of going to a private area like we should have, the ticket agent wanted proof my Glock was unloaded.....

So I proved it by picking it up in front of a crowd of people and racking the slide!....

Had to "show clear" once at check in... but that was a few years ago now... hasn't happened since.

Had a lever rifle, a SXS shotgun and a pair of single action revolvers... musta looked good to the folks in the line!!