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Anyone accidently carried a gun through TSA security

18,731 Views | 108 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by aggiepublius
moore42
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1:30p, 3/6/19
AG
I'm ashamed to say it happened to me at Love Field. Never in my life have i felt like such a dumba$$. I had an early flight (5 AM) and so i stayed the night before in Dallas in a not-so-good area. I had my pistol in my truck and didn't want to leave it there overnight, so I put it in my carry-on bag when I went into the hotel. Fast forward to early in the morning and I'm half awake getting to the airport and completely forgot about it. It was caught at the security check and I was arrested on site by TSA and transported to Dallas county, where I spent the entire day waiting to get out on bond.

This was about 8 years ago. It cost ~$10k in fines from the TSA and legal fees to get the charges dropped and the felony arrest expunged off my record.
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decent looking Ag
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1:43p, 3/6/19
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
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AZAG08
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In reply to moore42 • 2:01p, 3/6/19
AG
moore42 said:
I'm ashamed to say it happened to me at Love Field. Never in my life have i felt like such a dumba$$. I had an early flight (5 AM) and so i stayed the night before in Dallas in a not-so-good area. I had my pistol in my truck and didn't want to leave it there overnight, so I put it in my carry-on bag when I went into the hotel. Fast forward to early in the morning and I'm half awake getting to the airport and completely forgot about it. It was caught at the security check and I was arrested on site by TSA and transported to Dallas county, where I spent the entire day waiting to get out on bond.

This was about 8 years ago. It cost ~$10k in fines from the TSA and legal fees to get the charges dropped and the felony arrest expunged off my record.
Wow! Good first hand account for us all to remember
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schmellba99
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In reply to decent looking Ag • 2:15p, 3/6/19
AG
decent looking Ag said:
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
Not everybody lives a 100% perfect existence like you do, and some folks just obviously don't have the respect for guns that you obviously do.
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ntxVol
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In reply to decent looking Ag • 2:19p, 3/6/19
decent looking Ag said:
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
Yeah, I'm not buying that. How could you possibly stand to carry a gun religiously with all those alarm bells going off all the time?

I carry a gun religiously, accidentally walked into a HS baseball game last night with it...it happens.
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moore42
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In reply to ntxVol • 2:39p, 3/6/19
AG
ntxVOL said:

I carry a gun religiously, accidentally walked into a HS baseball game last night with it...it happens.
I think the worst part about my incident is that I no longer carry religiously. Up to that point, I had had my CHL for about 2-3 years and was legal to carry and did so most of the time.

Since the incident, which obviously cost me severely, I very rarely carry anymore because I now know first-hand how simple it is to make that mistake.
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hillcountryag86
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2:49p, 3/6/19
AG
About a year after 9/11, I flew out of Austin. Made it through security without incident and into waiting area. While waiting for my flight, I got up to walk around. Put my hands in my jacket pocket and grabbed a handful of .22 bullets. I'd been shooting feral cats and never took the ammo out of my jacket.

Sweated that one out as I went into the bathroom and waited for it to clear before dumping everything in the trash.

I have no idea what would have happened but I'm sure TSA would not have been happy.
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skelso
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In reply to Charismatic Megafauna • 2:49p, 3/6/19
AG
NRD09 said:
will.mcg said:
What's the rule? Has to be in locked case without ammunition? Case cannot be in its own bag?
Not loaded. NOT IN YOUR CARRYON! In locked case, ammunition separate, in checked bag, declared


"Ammunition separate" always seems to cause confusion. It must be separate in so far as it cant be loaded into the weapon. However, it can be in the same case as the gun.

The gun case can be checked as a bag itselfnor can be inside another checked bag.
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Boo Weekley
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In reply to MousepadMarauder • 3:04p, 3/6/19
MousepadMarauder said:
I had a friend who told a story about a friend who found his pistol in his bag AFTER it had been through security. They just had missed it. He chose to go back to security and tell them he had a gun in his bag. Doesn't sound like he did it very smoothly. Ended up with guns drawn on him, clearing the area, etc.

What would be your choice in that situation? Stay quiet and get to your destination puckered up the whole time? Admit it? Have thought about it many times and don't know what I would do.
Something very similar happened to the wife of a guy in our bible study. She called him freaking out from her terminal saying that she accidentally brought her carry gun through security in her purse. When she asked if she should go report it, he almost lost it and explained to her how stupid that would be and told her to just make sure it's hidden and that the purse remains closed and to try not to stress to much. She was definitely puckered the whole time.

Sorry, but no way in hell I would go report it. In an ideal world where the punishment or reaction would be proportionate, I would, but not with the way things are nowadays.
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87IE
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In reply to eric76 • 3:18p, 3/6/19
AG
eric76 said:
chjoak said:
Not a gun but I did get nailed with a folding pocket knife with a 3" blade in my backpack. Had no clue it was in there. Funny thing is I made it through security in Houston no issue. It was coming home from Wichita were I got nailed. They let me mail it back to myself through some TSA mail service and let me go on through security.
Prior to TSA, carrying a pocket knife wasn't any big deal. I did it whenever I flew and was only once asked about it.
Same here with the pocket knife..

Prior to 9/11 I had a loaded magazine in my work laptop bag that I carried on the plane. I didn't find it until I was in my hotel in Vegas
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AZAG08
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In reply to ntxVol • 3:25p, 3/6/19
AG
ntxVOL said:
decent looking Ag said:
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
Yeah, I'm not buying that. How could you possibly stand to carry a gun religiously with all those alarm bells going off all the time?

I carry a gun religiously, accidentally walked into a HS baseball game last night with it...it happens.
I remember one day reaching into my work bag to pull out my lap top one morning and felt a pistol.
I was living in an apartment at the time and every morning would put it in my bag to carry to the truck then transfer to the glove compartment while at work......like you said, it happens.

Luckily it was just at the office and I walked back out to the truck with my bag and then came back in
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Alte Schule
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3:25p, 3/6/19
Ten years ago I was at he Milwaukee airport and saw this elderly fella selected for additional screening. He asked the TSA agent if he was suspected of "having a bomb." I don't know where all the cops came from but he was cuffed and carried away in about 30 seconds. I guess making a statement about bombs is not something they take lightly.
A couple of years ago my son and I were in the Madison WI. airport returning to Houston. He was selected for additional screening and took him into another room. They went through his bag and found several packets of cheese we had picked up for friends and family at a small dairy in New Glarus. The cheese was packaged in 3x4 inch square packets. Resembled plastique explosives on the x-ray they said.




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Charismatic Megafauna
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In reply to hillcountryag86 • 3:25p, 3/6/19
AG
hillcountryag86 said:
I'd been shooting feral cats
I need to buy some stars so I can use the "laughing/tears" smiley
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AZAG08
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In reply to Alte Schule • 3:28p, 3/6/19
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Alte Schule said:
The cheese was packaged in 3x4 inch square packets. Resembled plastique explosives on the x-ray they said.




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Charismatic Megafauna
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In reply to Alte Schule • 3:30p, 3/6/19
AG
I was coming back from Amsterdam a couple years ago with my son who was maybe 1 1/2 at the time, and the CBP guy puts out his fist for a fist bump. Son looks at me, I give him the go ahead, then say "now blow it up!...uh, oops probably not the right place to say that!" Agent laughed and sent us on our way
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coolerguy12
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4:29p, 3/6/19
AG
Knew of a guy who spent thanksgiving in jail in Brazil because he forgot his gun was in his bag. Made it through IAH and then got busted coming back.
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Central Committee
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4:36p, 3/6/19
AG
Lost a $150 Benchmade to TSA. Had it in my backpack, and was late to my flight. Choice was to give it up or miss my flight and a business meeting in New York that I was leading.

Best knife I ever had.
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Mathguy64
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5:17p, 3/6/19
AG
I have a framed letter of reprimand from the TSA administrator from Houston for carrying a single .270 round in my shaving kit. It had been there for several flights over a multi year before they found it
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Stasco
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5:37p, 3/6/19
AG
I accudentally took a live .22lr round on a few flights without it ever being noticed. Found it in the bottom of my bag weeks later.
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bbqAg09
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In reply to kag00 • 5:40p, 3/6/19
AG
This happened to me and my CHL had expired so I spent a day in Dallas County and was charged with a 3rd degree felony. It was a $20K mistake when all said and done.

If he has a current CHL, he legally should be fine. If they try to get after him anyway, he definitely needs to lawyer up with an attorney that is well connected to the DA's office in that jurisdiction.
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decent looking Ag
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In reply to ntxVol • 6:24p, 3/6/19
ntxVOL said:
decent looking Ag said:
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
Yeah, I'm not buying that. How could you possibly stand to carry a gun religiously with all those alarm bells going off all the time?

I carry a gun religiously, accidentally walked into a HS baseball game last night with it...it happens.


You might not want to admit to committing a class A misdemeanor (which suspends your LTC for 5 years) on a public forum.
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ChemEAg08
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6:35p, 3/6/19
AG
Story time!

- in HS, I made it through IAH with a biology dissection kit (including scalpels) but the airport in Hayden, CO found it. I was traveling with my family and multiple other families so they let me go.

- for our honeymoon, my wife forgot her personalized Swiss army knive in her bag that was caught at IAH. They had a way she could mail it back home, so no loss there.
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Alte Schule
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In reply to decent looking Ag • 6:49p, 3/6/19
decent looking Ag said:
ntxVOL said:
decent looking Ag said:
How can somebody do this? I carry a gun religiously, every day and just about everywhere, and I have for years. If I have a gun on my person, in a briefcase, in a suitcase, or anywhere other than locked up at home or in my office, I have alarm bells in my head going off nonstop and I know exactly where that gun is. Maybe it's just how I was raised and trained with respect to guns when I was growing up, but I just don't understand how you can forget you have a loaded firearm with you. You might carry it every day, but it's not your wallet, it's not your keys, and it's your phone. And if you treat it like you treat those other things, you should not be carrying.
Yeah, I'm not buying that. How could you possibly stand to carry a gun religiously with all those alarm bells going off all the time?

I carry a gun religiously, accidentally walked into a HS baseball game last night with it...it happens.


You might not want to admit to committing a class A misdemeanor (which suspends your LTC for 5 years) on a public forum.
Do you actually believe that any law enforcement officer would waste their time and the money of what ever municipality he or she works for to investigate a Class A misdemeanor that would/could never be prosecuted? As someone who knows that is LOL funny.
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RCR06
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7:21p, 3/6/19
AG
Do the charges vary from state to state? I heard a guy telling a story where he was freaking out because he thought it was going to be a felony and the loss of legal gun ownership. He tried to go through security with a .22 pistol I believe. It ended up being a misdemeanor wherever he was.
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kag00
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7:51p, 3/6/19
AG
Thanks for all the responses. I think the likely course of action is to just deal with it and pay the spending fine. He is lucky that is the worst along with getting made fun of mercilessly for a few months for being an idiot.
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Alte Schule
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In reply to RCR06 • 7:53p, 3/6/19
RCR06 said:
Do the charges vary from state to state? I heard a guy telling a story where he was freaking out because he thought it was going to be a felony and the loss of legal gun ownership. He tried to go through security with a .22 pistol I believe. It ended up being a misdemeanor wherever he was.
If the person has a clean criminal history, stable address and employment and it appears to be an honest mistake, some of the time the feds will defer to the state/county/municipality for persecution, if any. As you can see in this thread though there are prosecutors that will take it to the max..
Federal/state/county prosecutors make their bones by the amount of $$$ and convictions they bring into their shop. Remember, in Texas, many jurists and prosecutors are elected. Nothing like telling your constituents that you put x amount of bad guys in jail and collected x amount of dollars in fines to get votes.
Of course this not applicable to all elected jurists and prosecutors but enough to make you go Hmmmm....

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P.H. Dexippus
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In reply to Charismatic Megafauna • 7:59p, 3/6/19
AG
NRD09 said:
powerbelly said:
Missing and rebooking a flight is cheaper than any of those options.
depends on the gun and the flight. A last minute flight from Houston to Dallas probably costs more than my Shield

Fly Southwest Anytime Fare or Business Select. I've canceled/rescheduled as my flight was boarding.
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B-1 83
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8:37p, 3/6/19
AG
Didn't happen. The politics board says TSA doesn't catch anything.
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IrishTxAggie
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In reply to Alte Schule • 9:04p, 3/6/19
AG
I'd take it to a jury in Texas...The DA should have fun finding 12 that will find you guilty.
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John N
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9:11p, 3/6/19
This is when being OCD pays off!
First off, I have a dedicated travel bag for air travel. I've got a few different bags for hunting and other overnight bags, but I have one specific Rolling bag that I only use when I fly. I never put a gun it it. But, since I'm OCD, I'll triple check that SOB when I get out of the truck for parking and then again when in line for TSA. Then since I EDC, I about do the Macarena dance 10' in front of the TSA scanner. I touch each hip and pocket just to make sure!!
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Colt98
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9:29p, 3/6/19
AG
This happened to me a few years ago. Long story short 38 revolver in my wife's console of car the week before. Slipped it in my outside pocket of carry on suitcase that night at hotel in dallas. Next week was rushing to pack for another trip and didn't think to check in that pocket. Get to airport, yada yada yada.... barely make my flight. Get a 3 k fine a few weeks later from tsa. Now every time I go through security I'm nervous I forgot something. Interesting enough a couple of weeks after that I had a pocket knife in my backpack found.. no pre check for me for a few years.

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JH06
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10:49p, 3/6/19
Happened to me 2 years ago. $1500 fine and a 3 year suspension of my TSA pre check.

I travel a lot for work but randomly one of my customers from NYC had a meeting in Austin so I got to stay local and was in my truck. I have a truck gun and a carry gun and when I went to valet the truck I threw the truck gun in my bag. Didnt think about it again and didn't see it missing because the gun is hidden pretty well under the steering wheel. Next Monday went through TSA and the guy on the scanner asks "this your bag?" to which I said "yeah, what did I leave my iPad in it?" and the reaction on his face alone made me realize I done messed up!

APD Seargant puts me in cuffs, I try to explain and apologize, APD Seargeant tells me to shut the F up, prison life flashes before my eyes, then going down the stairs the APD Seargeant says "aren't you friends with XXXX" who is a friend that works for APD. I immediately say "hell yeah he is my best friend!!!" and the officer gets a good laugh then tells me TSA is not my friend and walks me through what was about to happen. Basically say as little as possible then they take your prints, background check, gun serial number check, photos, and if you have a LTC you walk out of there. If you don't have a LTC it is off to jail.

You're allowed to carry in the lobby of the airport, so if you have a LTC and get stopped by TSA you legally never made it into a restricted area therefore didn't break the law. TSA fines are civil though, so even if you didn't break a law you broke their rule and they can hammer you.
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PFG
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In reply to JH06 • 10:57p, 3/6/19
AG
Love a good "humble brag look who I know and my fine is lower than all you other schmuks" story.
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IrishTxAggie
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In reply to JH06 • 10:59p, 3/6/19
AG
How can a government agency (DHS) level a monetary fine against an individual if no crime is committed? Seems like someone should sue the **** out of TSA for this practice and it belongs in front of SCOTUS.
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Tx-Ag2010
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11:24p, 3/6/19
AG
I am super paranoid when flying with bags that have had guns in them and for me that means pretty much all of my bags.
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