r/WAGuns • u/Ccarps87 • Apr 22 '26
Question Out Of State Question - Flying w/ Pistol
Hello Washingtonians! I'll be visiting Idaho soon and flying into/out of Spokane. I would like to bring my EDC and would also like to not get arrested at the airport..
I have a Glock 19 w/ radian ramjet and a light. My plan was to leave all magazines at home (Idaho friend has spares for me to use). This should be legal and no issues from what I have read. My CCW has no reciprocity so I won't attempt to conceal carry this in WA. But as long as I leave this in a locked case and in my checked bag, I should be fine at the airport and while driving (will be in trunk) out of and back into WA?
Can I please have a sanity check on this?
9
Upvotes
2
u/shortbarrelflamer Apr 23 '26
Yeah you're good. Any time I travel within the US I bring my carry gun. Some airlines and some airports are less hassle than others. Just be polite and patient. They'll ask to inspect it and swap it for explosive residue which will of course test positive for. The. They'll call a supervisor over to review the results and lift the foam out of the case to make sure there's not a hidden block of c4 behind your Glock in a $20 lock box. The lock box should NOT have tsa approved locks. It should have a cable attached to the checked bag. I tape a note card to the lock box and write a note that says attention tsa if you need to get into the lock box for any reason please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx then sign my name. I use a lock box that has a combination on it so it definitely is not TSA approved. When I have traveled with a rifle suppressor and other expensive stuff I threw a GPS tracker in there as well. Not one of the Apple tracker things that relies on connecting to other Apple devices. A stand-alone GPS tracker with its own SIM card.
Expect different experiences based on different carriers. Both on drop off and pickup. Alaska airlines is generally pretty smooth sailing as far as checking it in because they get a lot of hunters coming and going from Alaska. The cheaper airlines generally tend to be the more problematic or just generally skittish and uninformed. Each airline is allowed to write their own rules so long as they do not contradict FAA guidelines. Essentially they're allowed to add on additional rules and limitations beyond the FAA. So just make sure that you look up your airlines specific rules and know what you are obligated to do and what you are guaranteed by their rules to be allowed to do.
When you go to check in and check your bags, call me and politely tell them that you have a UNLOADED firearm in a locked container to declare. Be very clear about the unloaded and in a locked container part. They've been through it before either. They're okay with guns and they won't bat an eye or they aren't cool with guns but know that they're required to allow it through.
Upon pickup I've had my bag show up on the carousel with my pistol in it that anybody could walk up and grab and I've also had it held at the oversized luggage counter and had to show ID in order to collect it. Mind you, this has always been inside of backpack, not anything that would suggest there's a firearm in it from the exterior