Bringing your guns

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Bringing your guns

Has anyone used the hotel/casino safe before?

this is second-hand knowledge, but from what i've heard... those who ask about the "hotel safe" or "casino safe" (like high rollers do in movies) are immediately shot down. the safe is something like an AMEX Black card, i think... if you have to ask about it, you aren't the one they want using it. it's something they may invite the right super-duper high roller to use as part of a primo, multi-thousand-a-night package.

also, i highly doubt that even in such an instance the hotel or casino would accept a firearm into their care just on general principle. probably the only sort of "weapon" that might be allowed would be a blade or something, if it was a super expensive ceremonial sword or some such. (i.e. - some Marine wins the Corp Medal on the same weekend as his birthday and a wedding engagement, so all his family chips in and send him and his fiancee to the Rio in their supremo suite. if the hotel catches wind of his celebration and valor, perhaps they offer to keep his Mameluke sword safe for him. but even that might be rare.)

so yeah, i would doubt that anyone's Pelican case with an AR-15, a Glock 26, and a Remington shotgun (total value of that case ~ $2500) would ever be allowed anywhere except their own room (and the hotel would probably prefer it to remain in a car, but couldn't compel you to keep it there).

[seeess]

Re: Bringing your guns

this is second-hand knowledge, but from what i've heard... those who ask about the "hotel safe" or "casino safe" (like high rollers do in movies) are immediately shot down.

That is what I kind of expected, but the reason I ask is when I've checked in before the reason the hotel is not liable for any of your property in the room is because they give you access to a in-room safe. So if you choose not to use it and your stuff goes missing it is your fault. (I think it is a state law maybe, but I can't remember what state I was in)

Anyway for things that don't fit in the safe (like guns) I was wondering if there was another option where I would not be liable if lost/stolen.

Edit: called them, they said "they used to but they dont offer them anymore, the only other option is the bell desk"

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Bringing your guns

"they used to but they dont offer them anymore, the only other option is the bell desk"

see... that's interesting, because while i don't know if i would inherently trust my gun cases at a Bell Desk, that is a scenario when they're accepting a parcel of yours and taking it specifically under their care. i wonder if you'd be covered more than any other particular situation.

of course, there's always the Poor Man's Safe Vault... pawn shops.

many folk don't know, but pawn shops don't actually turn around and try to sell your goods once you broker a transaction with them. in fact, i believe they are required by law to wait a considerable amount of time first. i know of people who use pawn shops as a way to store jewelry and such when they're going out of the country for a long time.

the pawn shop will give you pretty close to proper dollar value for your goods and things are kept under substantial lock and key at all times. as long as you don't mistakenly gamble away your pawn dollars at the casino, you can pick up your guns on your way out of town.

[seeess]

Re: Bringing your guns

I wonder if that works for NFA items, since at my local shop when you place guns on consignment you are transferring the guns to them and if you decide to take it off consignment you have to go back through the NICS check.

[xor]

Re: Bringing your guns

Just FYI:

Found a set of gloves, and a hat very handy last year. Desert, sun, black metal, weapons being fired, ouchy ouchy hot.

xor

[Kyord]

Re: Bringing your guns

I plan to call Delta and ask someone who hopefully has at least two brain cells firing, but I'm looking for other opinions or experience.

Some airlines who limit the number of arms per case also count ammo "one of the firearms"
Is that "each box" of ammo as 1 firearm, or "all of the ammo" as 1 firearm?

Also, has anyone flown with ammo in the magazines?
Magpul's magazines have a "dust cover" which fully encloses the ammunition inside the magazine... thinking about doing this to save space, etc.

[seeess]

Re: Bringing your guns

I plan to call Delta and ask someone who hopefully has at least two brain cells firing, but I'm looking for other opinions or experience.

Some airlines who limit the number of arms per case also count ammo "one of the firearms"
Is that "each box" of ammo as 1 firearm, or "all of the ammo" as 1 firearm?

Also, has anyone flown with ammo in the magazines?
Magpul's magazines have a "dust cover" which fully encloses the ammunition inside the magazine... thinking about doing this to save space, etc.

I've never heard of counting ammo as a gun (which one is that?), the only issue i've had when flying with multiple firearms is one airline made me fill out one card for each. I always bring a copy of the policy with me. Last time an employee started to question me on my ammo case not being locked, but after i whipped out the policy they didn't seem to care enough to argue about it.

Haven't tried enclosed magazines, but if it fits their definitions on how it can be packed I'd go for it.

[TheBigMan]

Re: Bringing your guns

My experience is probably not very valid here on account of the fact that I have never stored guns and never needed to store something too valuable in a Vegas hotel.
However, I have stored certain critical items for companies I am working for in secure hotel lockrooms in many countries around the world.
There is no awesome walking into a safe room like the movies, you simply step into an airlock style room and they take your package from you. It may be that guns are different, or Vegas is different, but I would be surprised if it deviated too much from my experience.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Bringing your guns

I'm looking for other opinions or experience.

psst... http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/report.html

also count ammo "one of the firearms"
Is that "each box" of ammo as 1 firearm, or "all of the ammo" as 1 firearm?

I am not aware of any carrier that does this. There are some carriers (AirTran and JetBlue are two of them, for example) who do not allow any ammo in the same piece of luggage as the firearm (thus essentially requiring you to check at least two bags) but they aren't treating the ammo as a firearm.

also, be aware that some carriers limit the total number of firearms that a single piece of luggage can contain. (some something like this wouldn't fly with some carriers, hah)

Also, has anyone flown with ammo in the magazines?
Magpul's magazines have a "dust cover" which fully encloses the ammunition

this is a more nebulous issue. One major carrier, American Airlines, specifically bans "loaded clips" in their rules. We're all comfortable assuming that whoever wrote that does not know the difference between clips and magazines.

US Air gave me static one time for having ammunition that wasn't packed in a way which takes into account "separation of rounds" which is a requirement that no other airline seems to have. Still, have flown with loaded magazines LOADS of times with them.

One airline, Frontier, explicitly does state that loaded mags are ok.

Many other carriers (United/Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, AirTran, and JetBlue) all make reference simply to "secure packaging" which can be either "the original mfg box" or "any container made of wood or metal and designed to securely carry ammo" etc etc. A mag would surely qualify under these rules, but to be safe it's often best for you to either cover the exposed top round (as with a MagPul cover), or insert the whole magazine into a mag holster, or -- at worst -- put tape over the top of the mags.

[seeess]

Re: Bringing your guns

psst... http://deviating.net/firearms/packing/report.html

I think that needs an update, both united and usair say 11lb of ammo only now.

[FirmWarez]

Re: Bringing your guns

Southwest explicitly allows loaded mags/clips. Yeah, they say that, magazines or clips:

Magazines or clips containing ammunition must be securely packaged (placed in another small box or in a secure cutout in the carrying case, in order to protect the primer of the ammunition).

and

Loose ammunition or loose loaded magazines and/or clips are not allowed

Keep in the mind the part of the country they primarily service (except all of those excursions in to occupied California) and the fact they when you search their site for "firearms", you get hits on travel get aways to the Colt factory and such. One of the most gun friendly airlines. The "in order to protect the primer" verbiage is a parrot of the FAA regs, from what I understand.

That said I tend not to travel with loaded mags. It is fun enough opening up the Uzi case in an airport, I don't really like the idea that the first thing the TSA guy sees is ammo in a mag.

[FirmWarez]

Re: Bringing your guns

I wonder if that works for NFA items, since at my local shop when you place guns on consignment you are transferring the guns to them and if you decide to take it off consignment you have to go back through the NICS check.

No, I'm pretty sure you'd have to pay a transfer tax to get it back legally. An SOT (special occupational tax payer) can receive tax free but tax would have to be paid to transfer it back to you. However if you knew a friendly SOT of the appropriate type, you could transfer it to them for repair, they could keep it in their safe, and post repair it can be transferred back to you tax free. Not sure if there's any paperwork involved in that one though, I've never had to do it.