I don’t mind flying so much. I absolutely hate going through the airport, though. Ever since 9/11, navigating through TSA is an absolute nightmare, especially at some airports that were never designed for such security policies–I’m looking at you, Kansas City International.
But another reason I don’t fly is that I just don’t want the headache of trying to fly with a firearm. I’d much rather drive and not deal with TSA, the airlines, and them freaking out inside because someone is following the rules.
However, as the World Cup is coming to America, the Trump administration is trying to play nice with the world’s visitors, and a lot of gun owners are hoping we won’t be missed.
The Trump Administration recently announced a review of TSA policies designed to simplify travel ahead of major US events like the FIFA World Cup, Olympics and America250 anniversary celebrations.
America’s 83 million gun owners are hoping that review will include a streamlined approach to air travel with firearms. For millions of gun owners who fly with firearms each year, the process is seen as unnecessarily burdensome while at the same time adding little to public safety.
With nearly a third of the adult population in the country owning at least one firearm, it’s not surprising that millions of gun owners want to travel with them for a wide variety of reasons ranging from recreational shooting and hunting to personal protection and competition.
The process of checking a firearm onto a commercial airline flight, however, is seen as mystifying by many gun owners because procedures lack consistency, often varying from airline to airline and from airport to airport. Too, many see the rules as targeting law-abiding citizens who pose no threat in the first place.
That is, gun owners point out that criminals, by definition, do not obey laws, so implementing more laws and regulations around traveling with firearms only impacts people who wouldn’t break the law in the first place; thus, doing little to change safety outcomes.
Among the issues Forbes notes is the inconsistency in how the rules are implemented. Each airline has its own procedure, and those can include a requirement that passengers open the gun case to demonstrate that the weapon is unloaded, which tends to freak out the non-gun owners in line.
Plus, they note that a lot of the people who are supposed to be checking don’t have a clue what they’re looking at, which just makes it security theater.
I’m among those who hope that the situation gets addressed in the run-up to the World Cup, though I’m actually skeptical it will. The focus is going to be on foreign travelers and what they deal with, which is going to leave most of us out in the cold. However, if Trump wants to address this, we have a fine opportunity for him to do so, and it likely will be missed by the usual suspects who will rant and rave about gun trafficking or other such nonsense.
To them, I simply point out that guns from out of state turn up in places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico, which means they weren’t driven there. Gun trafficking is already going on, and the procedures with TSA for transporting guns aren’t going to stop that anytime soon.
I mean, they were created to stop terrorism, and rather than catch them, they hired them.
So yeah, let’s not put our trust in them stopping gun trafficking unless someone tries it through the stupidest means possible. Those, they’ve caught, but others? Not so much.
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