For those of our members who are in the United States and who might travel by air with handguns, there's a new wrinkle to be aware of.
Background: I hope everyone is aware that it is not legal to carry a firearm with you on a commercial aircraft, or to have a firearm in your carry-on luggage. However, as long as your possession of the firearm is legal where you get on the plane and where your flight ends, it is legal to transport an unloaded firearm in your checked luggage. Such transport is subject to both federal law and the regulations of the particular airline you are flying. In general, for handguns the requirement is that the gun itself must be in a locked container designed for transporting handguns, and the passenger is the only person who is allowed to have the key or combination. The locked handgun case may be enclosed in a larger suitcase, which may or may not be locked.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/1540.111 [scroll down to sub-section (c)(2)]
In previous discussions of the legal issues pertaining to travel with handguns, more than once I have seen people advise that we must use "TSA locks." The TSA itself, for a long time, said on its web site that passengers traveling with guns should hand over the key for the gun case to a TSA inspector upon request. Obviously, the latter suggestion is a direct violation of the federal law. The law states that "(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the passenger retains the key or combination."
That brings us to the so-called "TSA locks." TSA locks are locks (padlock or combination) that have provision for a master key that allows any TSA agent to open your lock without using your key and without any need for you to be present. It should be obvious, then, that using a "TSA lock" to secure a required gun case is also contrary to the federal law. If any TSA agent can unlock your gun case when you're not around, then you do not have the only key or combination. So use a non-TSA lock on the gun case, but you can use TSA locks on the outer suitcase in which the gun case is being transported.
Now there's a new problem: We have known for a long time that some TSA agents abuse their position and steal from suitcases going through their inspection system. Now, however, it has come out that the TSA keys for opening TSA locks have been leaked, and can be reproduced by anyone who has a 3-D printer.
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/17/...-locks-hacked/
According to this article, the TSA doesn't care. Their position is that they are concerned with aviation security, so if someone uses a cloned copy of their special keys to steal from your checked luggage, that doesn't compromise aircraft security so they don't care.
I don't have a good solution to offer. There is no law requiring you to use TSA locks on your suitcases. They are a convenience, because if the TSA decides they need to inspect the contents of your suitcase they can do so without calling you back to the screening area or simply cutting your lock off with a bolt cutter. If they decide to open your suitcase, they are not required to call you back to open it. They can just cut the lock off. If they do that, your bag(s) will go on from there to wherever you finally reclaim it/them without any lock. That's the reason for the TSA locks. If those locks have now been compromised (and it appears that they have been), it's a tough call whether to use a TSA lock even though you know it's not much protection, or to use a non-TSA lock and hope that either your bag(s) won't need to be opened, or that the TSA will call you if they need to open it/them.
So ... no advice here, unfortunately, but a heads up for something else to worry about if you need to travel with a handgun.
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