Amtrak--Anyone got a quick answer?

krmgator

New member
A last minute unscheduled trip has come up. I'm a VA resident driving to WV tomorrow and taking the train back. I have a VA resident CCL; WV is a reciprocal state.

I have looked at Amtrak website and see no mention of CCW. Can I carry concealed on an Amtrak train?
 
Found the answer from Amtrak site

Prohibited Items

The following kinds of items are prohibited as both checked and carry-on baggage:

Any type of gun, firearm, ammunition, explosives, or weapon.
Incendiaries, including flammable gases, liquids and fuels.
Large, sharp objects such as axes, ice picks and swords.
Corrosive or dangerous chemicals or materials, such as liquid bleach, tear gas, mace, radioactive and harmful bacteriological materials.
Batteries with acid that can spill or leak (except those batteries used in motorized wheelchairs or similar devices for mobility-impaired passengers).
Club-like items, such as billy clubs and nightsticks.
Fragile and/or valuable items, including but not limited to electronic equipment. (Laptop computers and handheld devices may be carried onboard; however, Amtrak accepts no liability for damage.)
Animals (except service animals).
Oversized and/or overweight items.
Please note: This is not an exhaustive list. Any item similar to those listed, even if not specifically mentioned here, is prohibited from being carried onboard or checked as baggage.
 
Just curious, since AMTRAK is Federally funded, is it considered a Federal facility vis a vis the Post Office?? :to_pick_ones_nose:
 
+1 with Boomboy... no train rides in my future either.

Not permitting firearms in transit, even in secured checked baggage?! That's BS! I mean, I've seen many a city's train stations... and they tend to be located in parts of the city where I WANT to be armed!
 
AZSATT

I definitely agree. I have taken Amtrak, and their stations are often in the worst parts of town(s). As are their routes. If there is anytime I would like to be armes it is in those areas.

JMHO :angry:
 
According to the news, Amtrak will have to start allowing weapons in checked baggage (just like airplanes) or else loose their federal funding.

Washington, DC - Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) offered an amendment to the 2010 Transportation-Housing & Urban Development Appropriations bill.

Sen. Wicker’s amendment will allow law-abiding gun owners to safely and legally transport firearms when they travel on Amtrak. A nearly identical amendment, also offered by Sen. Wicker, passed the Senate in April by a vote of 63-35.

Current Amtrak regulations prohibit firearms in both checked and carry-on baggage. Sportsmen who wish to use an Amtrak train for a hunting trip, therefore, cannot include a shotgun even in their checked luggage.

Likewise, travelers who have a permit to carry a concealed firearm cannot include a self-defense firearm in their checked luggage, even if they are allowed to carry in both the states of origin and destination.

But if such travelers were to take the trip by air, they could check a gun onto the aircraft by simply declaring the firearm and transporting it in a prescribed manner.

Of course, very few people use Amtrak — and many question why that entity receives any tax payer money.

Regardless, a transportation entity that receives billions of federal taxpayer dollars should not be allowed to prevent law-abiding citizens from hunting or defending themselves when they travel on vacation or personal business.

Sen. Wicker’s amendment prohibits any federal taxpayer funding of Amtrak if it does not allow gun owners to transport firearms on trains in a manner similar to that of airlines.

Under this amendment, travelers would be able to transport a firearm from Amtrak stations that accept checked baggage as long as the firearm is declared and carried in a hard-sided, locked container.



Link Removed
 
I've never ridden Amtrak & likely never will. Question about it though..... Does Amtrak run passengers through screening like airports do? After all, concealed is concealed.

RTL
 
Congress 1/2 acts

The House has passed a bill to allow passengers to check bags IF the station has that service. You can't carry but it will be just like the airlines. That might mean TSA and baggage screening.

But the law has not changed yet, private [automobile or airplane] is the way to travel.
 
Funny how they prohibit them but have no means of detecting them. That means anyone that complies is at the mercy of those who don't. Sound familiar? A disarmed victim zone. Avidshooter's Axiom: The law should be you may not prohibit weapons on your premises unless you 1) have metal detectors and use them on everyone - no exceptions for anyone 2) have armed guards to protect those within 3) provide armed escort to and from the parking facility. This would be too expensive for most and so we would go back to the sensible position of liberty put forth by our founding fathers where the right is not infringed - period.
 
Oh, and 4) Provide safe storage for those who wish to carry their firearms to and from your place of business or government facility - this includes the post office.
 
Avidshooter's Axiom:
The law should be you (business or gov't facility - including the post office, Amtrak, etc.) may not prohibit weapons on your premises unless you
1) have metal detectors and use them on everyone - no exceptions for anyone
2) have armed guards to protect those within
3) Either
a)provide armed escort to and from the parking facility
b)provide secure storage for those who carry to and from the facility
This would be too expensive for most and so we would go back to the sensible position of liberty put forth by our founding fathers where the right is not infringed - period.
 
+1 with Boomboy... no train rides in my future either.

Not permitting firearms in transit, even in secured checked baggage?! That's BS! I mean, I've seen many a city's train stations... and they tend to be located in parts of the city where I WANT to be armed!

ha ha ha :sarcastic: I definitely agree
 
Here is the official policy from Amtrack. They will not accept till the last minute:

"Firearms in Checked Baggage

The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, enacted into law on December 16, 2009, requires Amtrak to implement the procedures necessary to provide storage and carriage of firearms in checked baggage cars and at Amtrak stations that accept checked baggage, within one year of the bill’s enactment. This requirement applies solely to checked baggage, not carry-on baggage.

Amtrak’s current policy prohibits all firearms, ammunition and other weapons aboard its trains. This includes any being carried on the person, in carry-on baggage or in checked baggage. Please be advised that this policy remains in effect until Amtrak begins firearm carriage service by December 2010.":angry:
 
Please be advised that this policy remains in effect until Amtrak begins firearm carriage service by December 2010.":angry:

Come on, now, give AMTRAK credit, it says BY December 2010, not UNTIL December 2010! I am sure they will allow firearms ASAP... :sarcastic: yeah, right.
 
I'm not saying break the law..but no detectors, no searches of persons? Concealed is concealed. Be the grey man and go on with your business. If I cannot carry to another city becuae the train dont allow any kind of transport then the train I will not ride.
 
Of course, very few people use Amtrak — and many question why that entity receives any tax payer money.

Regardless, a transportation entity that receives billions of federal taxpayer dollars should not be allowed to prevent law-abiding citizens from hunting or defending themselves when they travel on vacation or personal business.


Amtrak is government owned....does that make them a "federal facility"? :pleasantry:
 
Doesn't Amtrak search a percentage of their passengers now?

You'd probably be in similar trouble to having a pistol in your pocket when getting onto a plane.

Have they yet implemented the new law regarding guns in checked luggage?

My Better Half is looking at a train trip to CA (yeah, I know, it's crazy to even enter Kalifornia if one can avoid it) and is wanting to take her .357 with her.
 
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