Guns stolen from checked baggage on Boston bound flight.....

[BroncoAZ]

TSA Travel Tips Tuesday: TSA Recognized Locks | Transportation Security Administration

While it’s understandable that travelers want to lock their baggage to protect their personal belongings, it’s also important to understand that TSA officers must be able to inspect baggage and contents when the need arises. That’s where TSA recognized locks come in.

www.tsa.gov

So do they occasionally just cut off the real locks when needed to inspect?

This is why I leave an extra set of locks ready to go inside my case. I read somewhere that if they cut your locks off and can’t relock then the case won’t proceed on its journey. I’ve had them call me to come back to TSA with the key so they can open my case without cutting locks.

On the current trip I’m on I brought a Pelican 1720 with an AirTag inside. After reading stuff like this I may secure a couple more AirTags with the speakers removed inside the firearms themselves.

 

[jct61765]

Seriously asking... HOW can a pair of glocks come out to be worth $4000?? Even with PRM prices that seems more than a little padded to me.

Also, why would someone not put a locked pistol case inside a regular suitcase, with normal stuff in it? Granted I've not flown (with, or without guns) since around 2006. Actually, I've never flown with firearms at all.

Maybe reptile sold them to the couple?

 

[Woodsloafer]

Absolutely ridiculous. With all the stringent bullshit laws on guns you would think that firearms transportation would be foolproof. You leave firearms in the hands of government monkeys, this is what happens. Obviously the state-approved protocol doesn't work if a government employee is able to bring the gun case to a secret location, use bolt cutters, and leave the airport with just the guns, and no cameras to witness any of this.
Even if the guns are found, I'll bet they'll make the couple fly to NC just to retrieve them.

LOL dude, what are you smoking, is everyone a federal employee??? You really do not know that baggage handlers, ticket counter people, and other airlines employees that load/unload the checked baggage are not federal/government employees? And that the protocols for how guns are handled in checked baggage (since you cannot have it in carry on luggage) is governed by individual airlines?

The theft of these guns, unless you think the TSA/government guidelines are not strict enough, has absolutely nothing to do with the government, it is simply due to some scumbags working for a private company stealing shit, which, unfortunately, is a normal occurrence every day/hour/minute.

.

 

[MaverickNH]

Assuming they were stolen, they’ll probably not be resold via FFL transfer to an honest buyer. Odd are slim they’ll ever pop up in an FBI trace, but less slim than most guns sold.

While any gun I’ve sold might end up a “crime gun”, by definition, these are “crime guns” for being stolen.

 

[pupchow]

"According to Simoni, Massachusetts State Police told her the guns were removed from their case prior to the plane taking off from Charlotte Douglas."

How's that work?

 

[PappyM3]

"According to Simoni, Massachusetts State Police told her the guns were removed from their case prior to the plane taking off from Charlotte Douglas."

How's that work?

Good ol’ fashioned Massachusetts police work. An equal mix of corruption, laziness, creative storytelling, and portraying the image that they actually care about the people they serve.

 

[drgrant]

Rmr, flashlight, comp, barrel? Easy to get anything over 2k with upgrades

I wouldn't sell any of my "well tested" glocks for under 2 grand, and mines basic bitch stuff mostly OEM. There's intrinsic value to proven guns.

There's a difference imo between real world ground value and full replacement cost.

EG: if i was insuring guns id want a policy that reflected the real replacement cost. The gun, mods, and T&E time/ammo. And that's not just a Glock thing either.

LOL dude, what are you smoking, is everyone a federal employee??? You really do not know that baggage handlers, ticket counter people, and other airlines employees that load/unload the checked baggage are not federal/government employees? And that the protocols for how guns are handled in checked baggage (since you cannot have it in carry on luggage) is governed by individual airlines?

The theft of these guns, unless you think the TSA/government guidelines are not strict enough, has absolutely nothing to do with the government, it is simply due to some scumbags working for a private company stealing shit, which, unfortunately, is a normal occurrence every day/hour/minute.

TSA retards have been caught stealing shit too. though. Numerous times.

 

[MaroonedinMA]

“I don’t advise they fly, because this is a significant moral burden on me right now that I don’t wish on anybody.”

Master-level PR move right there.

 

[LuvDog]

What sucks is all the BS they also need to go through because of this. I wonder what kinds of investigations the MSP will do in to their other items and to see if these are in their none registry registry.

While $4k seems high, I can sort of see it. Cerakote, Red Dot, Light, etc etc can add up quickly. Heck a TTI Combat Master Glock goes for $4k alone

 

[Woodsloafer]

TSA retards have been caught stealing shit too. though. Numerous times.

Yup, never said they don't steal, there are private and government shitheads/scumbags, nobody truly has the market cornered. I think 20% of the population are thieves, maybe higher, look at the amount of fraud, theft at stores, embezzlement, etc. that goes on.

 

[whatluck]

This is why my suitcase is a Pelican 1615. Just put padlocks on every eyelet. Have to either cut a bunch of Abloy pucks (or the case) or steal the whole thing. None are impossible, but neither are they low visibility.

You're gonna make a lot of noise stealing those.

 

[Foudre]

TSA has always been a mystery to me, bunch of minorities making minimum wage is the best we can do for security?

I would rather leave my wallet on a stoop in the hood with hundreds hanging out.

Besides locking guns up the schizo way and doing everything by the book and then some to minimize the possibility of state, federal employees or airport wagies stealing your firearm; are there any alternative methods to transport your own gun to another part of the country in a timely manner that doesn't pose such risk? After all, we can't expect government workers to respect your ownership can we?

 

[Garys]

Neither of your statements is accurate. They definitely don't make minimum wage and from what I've seen there is a mix of sexes, races, and ethnicities.

That said, I think that we can do a better job with security no matter who is running it.

TSA has always been a mystery to me, bunch of minorities making minimum wage is the best we can do for security?

I would rather leave my wallet on a stoop in the hood with hundreds hanging out.

 

[drgrant]

What sucks is all the BS they also need to go through because of this. I wonder what kinds of investigations the MSP will do in to their other items and to see if these are in their none registry registry.

While I love to shit on mass I doubt anything is going to come out of that end. Not to mention regardless of current laws in this circumstance it simply doesn't matter. Especially considering the guns don't actually exist at this point.

 

[Garys]

That's not a bad idea, but it would mean I'd have to buy a bigger case which will take up more room in my suitcase.

You're right about what happens if they end up cutting off your locks. I almost had that happen one time because an idiot US Scair counter supervisor handed my case off to an illiterate in English porter to bring the box to TSA. In this case, the two TSA officers did the right thing. After opening the case so they could see the orange card, one of them told me that the counter supervisor f*cked things up all the time.

Someone else mentioned TSA employees stealing stuff, but baggage theft predates TSA by decades.

This is why I leave an extra set of locks ready to go inside my case. I read somewhere that if they cut your locks off and can’t relock then the case won’t proceed on its journey. I’ve had them call me to come back to TSA with the key so they can open my case without cutting locksOn the current trip I’m on I brought a Pelican 1720 with an AirTag inside. After reading stuff like this I may secure a couple more AirTags with the speakers removed inside the firearms themselves.

 

[Zappa]

This is one of the good use cases for air tags.

Even with air tags, it doesn't mean your stuff is safe from scumbags.
This guy knew exactly where his missing luggage was, but the people at the airport wouldn't help him:

https://www.northeastshooters.com/xen/threads/airline-disaster-industry.466943/page-8#post-9277552

 

[AFVet]

baggage handlers are federal employees now?

the TSA baggage guys downstairs are the ones that see the guns on the xray machine.

 

[Broc Tuah]

TSA Travel Tips Tuesday: TSA Recognized Locks | Transportation Security Administration

While it’s understandable that travelers want to lock their baggage to protect their personal belongings, it’s also important to understand that TSA officers must be able to inspect baggage and contents when the need arises. That’s where TSA recognized locks come in.

www.tsa.gov

So do they occasionally just cut off the real locks when needed to inspect?

Guns are not treated like regular bags.

 

[GL2020]

The only clue I've seen lately is that they will put a tag that says "BSO" on the luggage. Which doesn't necessarily say that there is a gun in there, it just says that the bag has to go to the Baggage Service Office and be picked up there. American and Delta do that, but SWA doesn't.

**SSSS** on your boarding pass means that you've been pre selected for "random" advanced screening. That happens ocassionally even to people with Pre Check. I don't think it happens if you have Global Entry because that is a much more thorough examination, including an in person interview with an ICE officer.

Having flown recently with a firearm (a first for me) from Providence to Jacksonville I can say it was relatively painless. I flew American only cause I had some rewards points to pay for my flight.

The only parts that were annoying was first getting flagged for the return trip and not being able to check-in online.

I was both shocked (and frankly a little miffed given the expectation they created when I left JAX) on the return they just threw my suitcase with the firearm inside on the normal baggage belt. Not a huge deal, but I ran to the baggage service office expecting it to be there. Providence..small airport...no one in the baggage office (as usual), so I couldn't get in. Luckily I could see the belt moving from where I stood....and there goes my bag trucking on by with a tag that says "BSO" on it.

But luckily no interaction with TSA and being asked to open it. And good luck seeing a firearm on x-ray through the metal case I used...guessing all they could see is a white rectangle (air tag taped to the bottom of the case), but i'm told they can see some stuff through metals other than lead...I mean people use aluminum sided suitcases all the time, so...

 

[DispositionMatrix]

This is why I leave an extra set of locks ready to go inside my case. I read somewhere that if they cut your locks off and can’t relock then the case won’t proceed on its journey. I’ve had them call me to come back to TSA with the key so they can open my case without cutting locks.

On the current trip I’m on I brought a Pelican 1720 with an AirTag inside. After reading stuff like this I may secure a couple more AirTags with the speakers removed inside the firearms themselves.

Yep. Have extra locks and preferably have them all keyed the same. News outlets say they were stolen in Charlotte, but the couple received their case with the locks cut off. If TSA cuts the locks off _before_ the case leaves the point of origin, the case doesn't fly.t hurt to also carry some TSA locks as a last resort, which will at least allow your case to be loaded onto a plane.

Also, if the locks had been cut off at the point of origin, the case would not have flown. So are they _sure_ the firearms were stolen at CLT?

A guy no one here will like, who has vast experience traveling with firearms, shared a horror story last year about this topic. He, through no fault of his own, ended up holding up a flight as the airline employees repeatedly lied to him about the status of this firearm case, after telling him they would have no problem handling it. In the end, he had to hand new locks off to a gate agent who handed them to the cat who was supposed to load the case onto the plane after the case turned up with the locks cut off.

 

[CATI]

This lady should not have given her name/made a comment with the circles she runs in.
She even has a photo with the "Big Guy"

 

[DispositionMatrix]

Next up: Democrats discover you can check firearms and seek to close the flying-with-firearms loophole, or the airlines decide since they'll never follow their own policies correctly, they don't need the hassle of transporting firearms at all.

 

[Parker Schreiber]

**SSSS** on your boarding pass means that you've been pre selected for "random" advanced screening. That happens ocassionally even to people with Pre Check. I don't think it happens if you have Global Entry because that is a much more thorough examination, including an in person interview with an ICE officer.

I have Global Entry and have received the dreaded SSSS inspection once at LaGuardia and once in Albuquerque. I did refrain from making "Snakes on a Plane" jokes until after I cleared security.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

TSA Travel Tips Tuesday: TSA Recognized Locks | Transportation Security Administration

While it’s understandable that travelers want to lock their baggage to protect their personal belongings, it’s also important to understand that TSA officers must be able to inspect baggage and contents when the need arises. That’s where TSA recognized locks come in.

www.tsa.gov

So do they occasionally just cut off the real locks when needed to inspect?

I was paged in the Phoenix and had to give a key for them to take back into the bowels of the luggage system. I was carrying two keys so I was able to tell them to just leave the key in the case after they relocked it.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

What sucks is all the BS they also need to go through because of this. I wonder what kinds of investigations the MSP will do in to their other items and to see if these are in their none registry registry.

While $4k seems high, I can sort of see it. Cerakote, Red Dot, Light, etc etc can add up quickly. Heck a TTI Combat Master Glock goes for $4k alone

The ACRO closed emitter sight (commonly called "the mailbox") is a $650 site. Add in ceracote, the Novesky name, grip stillping and other custom work and $4K for the two guns sounds about right (as in the "going retail rate") price.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Not a huge deal, but I ran to the baggage service office expecting it to be there. Providence..small airport...no one in the baggage office (as usual), so I couldn't get in. Luckily I could see the belt moving from where I stood....and there goes my bag trucking on by with a tag that says "BSO" on it.

"Its ok - he has the tag on the case, buts thats an SVI and I prefer to build on Caspian frames" - Older TSA baggage screener to his younger co-worker at PVD way back when luggage search was a new thing.

 

[GL2020]

Also, if the locks had been cut off at the point of origin, the case would not have flown. So are they _sure_ the firearms were stolen at CLT?

That crossed my mind too. How did they get on the plane without locks? Either baggage handler cut them before they were put on the plane in CLT (after they went through TSA), or they were cut in Boston. Airports have cameras but employees know where the holes are...they know where they can step away to smoke or just be out of view for a while.

Back in the days when I smoked (early 2000's) I spent some time around Charlotte on vacation and made sure to load on cheap smokes. Shoved 5 cartons in the suitcase 2 cartons went missing when I picked up the bag in PVD.

 

[1sern]

Couple’s handguns go missing at Charlotte airport; TSA, airline investigating

The woman claims the guns were properly locked and cased.

www.wbtv.com

According to the MSP schutzstaffel it didn't happen on the Boston side but who knows.....

MAStaPo

 

[1sern]

Couple’s handguns go missing at Charlotte airport; TSA, airline investigating

The woman claims the guns were properly locked and cased.

www.wbtv.com

According to the MSP schutzstaffel it didn't happen on the Boston side but who knows.....

 

[CATI]

That crossed my mind too. How did they get on the plane without locks? Either baggage handler cut them before they were put on the plane in CLT (after they went through TSA), or they were cut in Boston. Airports have cameras but employees know where the holes are...they know where they can step away to smoke or just be out of view for a while.

Back in the days when I smoked (early 2000's) I spent some time around Charlotte on vacation and made sure to load on cheap smokes. Shoved 5 cartons in the suitcase 2 cartons went missing when I picked up the bag in PVD.

Not sure what locks they had but if they were TSA locks master sets are readily available