What Type of locks for Gun Case and International Travel?

[Hyde Hunter]

What type of padlock? Domestic trip or international?

Master Locks, coming home in Atlanta to So Dakota

 

[deaner20]

Only been once buttttt lost a lock on flight over no idea what happen to
It so
Replaced it for flight home and found 2 missing in New Jersey
Then while talking about it in weapon check in line several other hunters said same thing
That locks just disappeared in flight to and from
Anyone else have this issue or reason why
Planning on another trip
In 27 so watching see what recommendations are thanks

 

[Scott CWO]

Master Locks, coming home in Atlanta to So Dakota

Yes but had you been overseas on this trip before landing in Atlanta?

 

[Hyde Hunter]

Master Locks, coming home in Atlanta to So Dakota

Yes but had you been overseas on this trip before landing in Atlanta?

Yes 3 trips to So Africa with no issues, the locks were removed by TSA after I cleared customs,Checking the case in for trip home found TSA tag in the case

 

[Mike B.]

New one for me yesterday in Houston Delta check in. Everything checked at counter.
They wanted NON TSA locks on guncase. Which I always use a TuffPac with its internal lock plus I put a hasp and big combo master lock on it. Ammo case was different story. Alway have used TSA locks on it inside checked bag. Delta wanted NON TSA locks on ammo case also. I just happened to have some spare with me. Also. Delta carried guns to TSA and told me go on they security
No need stay. Case will be xrayed and not opened. I hung around just incase. Delta agent came back and said good to go. Seems always changing what they want.

FYI still on DL200. Had decent WiFi the entire trip. Maybe down 2 hours middle way across. 2 1/2 hours more to go

This is interesting because there is nothing on deltas website that mentions this in their requirements. Their website just says it needs to be locked in all lockable spots and follow tsa and government regs. It’s stupid that we have to fight this all the time because people make up their own rules but I’m pretty sure you’d have been able to push back on this and got through and allowed to check them with tsa locks eventually

 

[Scott CWO]

Yes 3 trips to So Africa with no issues, the locks were removed by TSA after I cleared customs,Checking the case in for trip home found TSA tag in the case

That’s crazy. Never heard of that happening before. Do you have Global Entry or just TSA Pre-check or neither?

 

[rgsiii]

The requirements will vary according to the enigmatic interpretation of rules by the TSA/airline employees.

 

[Betterinthebush]

The whole system is made of overlapping layers of ambiguous rules by governments, tsa, airlines and airports. If I were a conspiracy theorist I would believe that it’s all by design.

Incidentally, I used combination master locks on my rifle case and on my ammo case inside my checked luggage and tsa worthless locks on the pelican luggage case that the ammo was inside of for Delta > J-burg.

Airlink from J-burg > Bulawayo > J-Burg didn’t care what kind of locks I had either. They only cared about it being locked.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

That’s crazy. Never heard of that happening before. Do you have Global Entry or just TSA Pre-check or neither?

Neither

 

[Smokewagonokc]

It doesnt matter what lock you use, they have the master keys to ALL brands. I had 2 master locks with the key hanging around my neck. My case was opened multiple times without me being present. Which they arent supposed to do unless your present.

 

[Scott CWO]

Neither

I have the tougher one to get - Global Entry. GE also includes the easier to get TSA Pre-check. I think GE keeps them from being so suspicious and from going through my bags as often as other people. You might look into getting GE. I would bet you can schedule the appointment with CBP at the Sioux Falls airport. It is an in-person short interview after you submit all the paperwork ahead of time.

 

[Jhsmith]

It doesnt matter what lock you use, they have the master keys to ALL brands. I had 2 master locks with the key hanging around my neck. My case was opened multiple times without me being present. Which they arent supposed to do unless your present.

Exactly.
I flew out of Salt Lake City in April.
I checked my gun case at the counter.
The Delta agent told me to stay within eyesight of her, and she would wave to me when I was cleared to go through.
I thought this was a little strange .
After about 20 minutes she looks at me and waves her hand.
I packed my guns in two soft cases with the bolt removed. The cases were arranged so that the scopes cannot touch each other.
When I finally arrived in South Africa and opened up my gun case it was obvious that TSA had opened it.
Everything had been rearranged!
Grumble…

 

[Russ16]

I have the tougher one to get - Global Entry. GE also includes the easier to get TSA Pre-check. I think GE keeps them from being so suspicious and from going through my bags as often as other people. You might look into getting GE. I would bet you can schedule the appointment with CBP at the Sioux Falls airport. It is an in-person short interview after you submit all the paperwork ahead of time.

Lots of credit cards will also give you a credit for the fee every 5 years so it is essentially free if you have one of those.

 

[Philip Glass]

New one for me yesterday in Houston Delta check in. Everything checked at counter.
They wanted NON TSA locks on guncase. Which I always use a TuffPac with its internal lock plus I put a hasp and big combo master lock on it. Ammo case was different story. Alway have used TSA locks on it inside checked bag. Delta wanted NON TSA locks on ammo case also. I just happened to have some spare with me. Also. Delta carried guns to TSA and told me go on they security
No need stay. Case will be xrayed and not opened. I hung around just incase. Delta agent came back and said good to go. Seems always changing what they want.

FYI still on DL200. Had decent WiFi the entire trip. Maybe down 2 hours middle way across. 2 1/2 hours more to go

They do not know the rules!

 

[Hedge774]

We use TSA locks on our checked bags regardless of destination. Non-TSA locks on rifle and ammo cases. Plus all of our luggage is Pelican Protector series so it’s a little better than just a zipper on a duffel bag…but not much with those garbage TSA locks.

Just trying to make it more difficult to get into our luggage than someone else’s. Be a hard target.

This is wise.

 

[Rafiki]

https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Approved-Handgun-Shotguns-Combination/dp/B0CCD7VDVM/ref=zg_m_bs_g_4200821_m_sccl_2/141-2897950-0664514?psc=1

 

[rgsiii]

New one for me yesterday in Houston Delta check in. Everything checked at counter.
They wanted NON TSA locks on guncase. Which I always use a TuffPac with its internal lock plus I put a hasp and big combo master lock on it. Ammo case was different story. Alway have used TSA locks on it inside checked bag. Delta wanted NON TSA locks on ammo case also. I just happened to have some spare with me. Also. Delta carried guns to TSA and told me go on they security
No need stay. Case will be xrayed and not opened. I hung around just incase. Delta agent came back and said good to go. Seems always changing what they want.

FYI still on DL200. Had decent WiFi the entire trip. Maybe down 2 hours middle way across. 2 1/2 hours more to go

The last time I flew out of Atlanta, the Delta employees required me to take my locked Ammunition container out of my checked in bag and the have it checked as a separate piece of luggage to fly into Johannesburg. You are at the mercy of these people--I can imagine being right and missing a flight if you pressed them hard enough.
I think carrying extra locks of different types might be the way to go. You can't fix stupid.
Mark, thank you for the scope help. Richard

 

[Hogpatrol]

They do not know the rules!

View attachment 770826View attachment 770826

Have to disagree on the "rules", because there are none, only advisories. If multiple government websites are checked, there are only what some employee on a specific day, at work, decided to enter something on a government website. At best, their postings are ambiguous, contradictory and confusing. An example is "Only the owner has the key and access to the gun case". This totally rules out TSA locks.
We now return you to another clusterfark thread on gun case locks. Resume dead horse beating.

 

[Mike B.]

Have to disagree on the "rules", because there are none, only advisories. If multiple government websites are checked, there are only what some employee on a specific day, at work, decided to enter something on a government website. At best, their postings are ambiguous, contradictory and confusing. An example is "Only the owner has the key and access to the gun case". This totally rules out TSA locks.
We now return you to another clusterfark thread on gun case locks. Resume dead horse beating.

I think this says more about you not being willing to accept that government agencies interpret the law all the time and clarify what congress has written into law. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to accept the fact that TSA puts it right on their website that you can use TSA locks on gun cases. You honestly believe that was some low level government employee that came up with that and went rogue all of a sudden and posted that to their website? I can assure you that is not how that works. Obviously change is hard for some people.

Again, the government is not a person, they are the only ones that are supposed to have access to the master keys. That’s the system that was built, what keys are out there and what is sold to the public is not relevant to their current interpretation that allows tsa locks to be used on gun cases.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I think this says more about you not being willing to accept that government agencies interpret the law all the time and clarify what congress has written into law. I don’t know why it’s so hard for you to accept the fact that TSA puts it right on their website that you can use TSA locks on gun cases. You honestly believe that was some low level government employee that came up with that and went rogue all of a sudden and posted that to their website? I can assure you that is not how that works. Obviously change is hard for some people.

Again, the government is not a person, they are the only ones that are supposed to have access to the master keys. That’s the system that was built, what keys are out there and what is sold to the public is not relevant to their current interpretation that allows tsa locks to be used on gun cases.

Government employee, I presume. Guess I struck a nerve. Thanks for the chuckle.
Meanwhile, the horse cadaver is still being thrashed. LOL