Forgot to claim my handgun

[ti02]

So there I was, about to go through security at seatac and I get a call. "Sir please go to the southwest ticket counter. You have an undexlared firearm in your luggage." At that moment my first thought was, "oh crap..." I didn't know what else to think... never been in this situation before.

So I went to the counter and waiting for me was a cop in uniform and then four more in plain clothes along with the tsa guy. They opened my suitcase and there was my portable bulldog gun vault and small pelican case. I entered tge code and opened the gun case. The cop pulled out my xd9sc, unloaded, wrapped in a cleaning cloth tied through the trigger guard. They put it all back and took photos of my gun, license, cpl, military id, and me. Packed all back up and said I would get a letter in the mail that I had to reply to.

I asked if there would be a fine and they said maybe but it depends on the facts and who is reading them.

Does anyone here have any experience with this?

What should I expect to see in this letter?

 

[Phillip Gain]

LET US KNOW how it turns out. Always good to have firsthand information on this sort of thing. Sorry it has to be at your expense.

Good luck. Hope it's not a big deal.

 

[Tucker's Mom]

I'd be interested to know too...

 

[ti02]

I'm pretty confident it will be ok but I was a bit surprised I couldn't find any info on this anywhere else online... either I'm the only guy this has happened to or I'm the only guy who posted about it...

 

[Cotillion]

Or the only one who "forgot" they had a gun. Not trying to be a jerk, but its your duty to know where your firearm is

 

[Aaron Manning]

Hmmmm... I'm going somewhere... On an airplane... I'm taking my gun... I've made the effort to secure it in a Bulldog gun vault... The ammunition is separate and I've gently wrapped my shiny gun in a cloth...

And it slips your mind that you've got a freakin' gun in your luggage?!? Seriously? Really? No kidding? Like, for real?

Dude...really... *shakes head, sighs, facepalm*

 

[BigSlick]

I asked if there would be a fine and they said maybe but it depends on the facts and who is reading them. What should I expect to see in this letter?

Hopefully it will be a letter thanking you for your service to this country!

 

[upnorth]

Hopefully it will be a letter thanking you for your service to this country!

I agree, and thank's for your service.

 

[The_Outlaw]

Hmmmm... I'm going somewhere... On an airplane... I'm taking my gun... I've made the effort to secure it in a Bulldog gun vault... The ammunition is separate and I've gently wrapped my shiny gun in a cloth...
And it slips your mind that you've got a freakin' gun in your luggage?!? Seriously? Really? No kidding? Like, for real?
Dude...really... *shakes head, sighs, facepalm*

LMAO! My thoughts 'exactly'. SMH

 

[ti02]

Hmmmm... I'm going somewhere... On an airplane... I'm taking my gun... I've made the effort to secure it in a Bulldog gun vault... The ammunition is separate and I've gently wrapped my shiny gun in a cloth...

And it slips your mind that you've got a freakin' gun in your luggage?!? Seriously? Really? No kidding? Like, for real?

Dude...really... *shakes head, sighs, facepalm*

Ya that was my "oh crap" thought. With 6 bags, a screaming 2yo, and late for our plane it did slip my mind. Makes me wish I could just declare it through some online process and print out that little form. I'm a big fan of preparation.

If I can file my taxes, refill prescriptions, order pizza, pay parking tickets, and buy guns online I think I should be able to e-sign a form when I check in for my flight 24hrs in advance.

 

[Keykutter]

I feel your pain. With so much going on, even with flying quite a bit, I have forgotten pocket knives in my pockets on more than one occasion. One time I even forgot two. I took them out of my carry bags at home and fully expected I would put them check-in bags but the first time something goes 'other than planned', the memory fails and you start a different tac.

The time I forgot the two knives, I ran back to the ticket counter and handed them to the ticket agent and told him to keep them. It was at my home airport. Somehow, when I got to my destination, he had put them in an envelope and got them into my luggage. Now that was a nice guy, as one was a Case and the other was a Benchmade.

Not sure the same would have happened with a gun but I can relate as to how it happened to you.

Hope all ends well.


KK

 

[BigSlick]

I make about 30 round trips by air each year for business mostly on Southwest. I always have to check my backpack that's my carry on for knives. Sometimes I place them in there between trips and forget to check. Yes it happens. A few weeks ago I left not one but two knives in my carry on. Then came the shout from the TSA as my bag cleared the x-ray scanner "BAG CHECK". I was surprised by the way they handled it. Sir you can't take these onto the aircraft but you may still have time to but them in your checked luggage. I wasn't beat up with batons or tasered either.

 

[NavyLCDR]

This is very close, so I would expect the $125 fine:

Link Removed

I have a question about civil penalties. I used as carry-on a piece of luggage I also use for other purposes, for a last-minute trip. I didn't check it or empty it. You can see where this is going....

There was a box of ammunition in a pocket somewhere, unopened, with the receipt, all in the original plastic bag from the store it was purchased from. The TSA agent saw it on the x-ray.

Of course, this is my fault. No question. And monumentally stupid. Also, no question. I didn't remember/know it was in there, and should have smart enough to thoroughly clear the luggage of anything not flight-ready.

This all occurred in North Carolina. Besides TSA there was a local police office present, he called in my drivers license, and told TSA I was 'clear'.

The fine is very minimal, just $125. The TSA letter emphasizes that this is a civil penalty.

Here is my question... while I accept responsibility and will pay the fine, what does this 'look like' for things like employment-based background checks etc. in the future?

Although, this document says the minimum fine is $500:
Link Removed

2.
Security Violations for Prohibited Items Discovered in Checked Baggage
A. Firearms
i. Loaded firearms $1,000-$2,000 +
Criminal Referral
ii. Undeclared or improperly packaged firearms $500-$1,000

and this one:
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-572243.html

In what I will chalk up to as a moment of colossal youthful naivety/stupidity, I misunderstood the difference between a Gate check and a Baggage check at my local New York airport and let a toy bb gun through security screening in my suitcase.

(Picture of bb gun: google "Tokyo Marui g17 spring")
It was a spring bb gun sealed in its original packaging with its orange blaze tip and other security features intact.

I was detained by the TSA and after some deliberation, they escorted me back out to have it baggage checked and told me I would soon receive a letter, which I have just received today a month later.

I have received a Notice of Violation stating that my possession of the item violated 49 C.F.R. 1540.111(a) of the Transportation Security Regulations.
The letter proposes to assess a civil penalty in the amount of $250, or $125 in full payment if received within 30 days.

I'm absolutely fine with paying the $125 for my embarrassing stupidity, but what I'm really worried about is if this will go down somewhere on a permanent record showing up on background checks and such. Being a college student looking to go into law or gov't work, you can see why this is a huge concern for me.

Does anyone have any advice for me, or similar stories? What should I do in this situation?

Thanks guys,
Jack

Source:
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=tsa+letter+fine+firearms

 

[FN1910]

With all the bad comments about flying and the TSA not all airline employees are thugs. We flew to CA a few months back for a wedding. After we were settled in at the hotel my wife discovered her camera missing and we finally decided she left it on the plane. When we checked in for the return flight we asked the ticket agent about it. She went down to the baggage area and in a few minutes returned with the camera. A very nice gesture from her. This was at John Wayne airport so kudos to the staff there.

 

[Couch Potato]

The way airports operate these days it is very understandable if someone forgets to make the extra effort required to declare a properly packed firearm. Everything is done at home or at a kiosk with no human contact required to check luggage. To declare something one must make a special effort to find an airline employee with access to systems needed for entering the information. It's not like back in the twentieth century when bags were checked by handing them over to a person.

 

[ti02]

That's the strange part. I checked all of our bags at the curb with the southwest bagger guy and he just printed our boarding passes and slapped the bag tags on and threw the bags on the conveyor belt. No weigh in or questions. I told him my name and he glanced at my id for about a second. Very quick and impersonal. Hopefully my return flight will be smooth

 

[ponygirl]

Any update on this matter?

 

[Glock Fan]

Any update on this matter?

The "Brown Shirts" stormed his house, took him into custody, raped his wife and children and he's now sitting in a cell somewhere for an undetermined amount of time.

Don't think we'll be hearing from this guy in a while. :-(

All kidding aside, he probably got the letter, sought the advice of a licensed attorney and was told to stop posting online until the case is over. I'm guessing that there's more to the story than the OP told us. To have that many LEO on site, the firearm was probably loaded. They won't usually confiscate your firearm if you're facing a "civil penalty".

 

[Firefighterchen]

I'm guessing that there's more to the story than the OP told us. To have that many LEO on site, the firearm was probably loaded. They won't usually confiscate your firearm if you're facing a "civil penalty".

I'm not so sure about that. I had 2 police officers and 6 TSA agents around me when they found a .40 SW round in the laptop sleeve in my back pack (a loose round from the last hike i went on). I surrendered the ammo, they filled out their paperwork, and it was over.

It was funny because I turned to my wife and said, "what do they think im going to do? throw the bullet at someone? The officer who made contact with me asked the same thing jokingly. The TSA agents thought the world was ending :-/ Never heard anything from them since.

 

[Glock Fan]

I'm not so sure about that. I had 2 police officers and 6 TSA agents around me when they found a .40 SW round in the laptop sleeve in my back pack (a loose round from the last hike i went on). I surrendered the ammo, they filled out their paperwork, and it was over.

It was funny because I turned to my wife and said, "what do they think im going to do? throw the bullet at someone? The officer who made contact with me asked the same thing jokingly. The TSA agents thought the world was ending :-/ Never heard anything from them since.

Apples and oranges. There's a HUGE difference with regard to the way DHS handles cases where a firearm is involved versus ammunition in the absence of a firearm. That's pretty much all I can say on an open forum. I've seen the outcome of a couple of cases first hand.