CDH wrote:Anyone able to shed some light on this:
Is this going to cause me a problem traveling in and out of Philadelphia with a carry pistol in my (checked of course) luggage?
Anyone been through there recently to give me the lay of the land? I'll be flying Continental...
Thanks in advance!
Carrying an unloaded, locked-in-a-case weapon in checked luggage is completely unrelated to concealed carry. It is allowed anywhere in the US. Only way I could think of it being illegal is if the WEAPON itself were illegal in the jurisdiction you were flying to. Even in that case, the airline folks check it when you check in and you pick it up on the conveyor when you get there like any other luggage, as I recall. Never traveled with a pistol like this, but lots of times with rifle and it's no big deal. Now if you walk out the door of the airport and break open the case on the sidewalk and pull the gun out, load it, and holster it (concealed), I'd bet you'll meet some new friends and get to try on handcuffs.

But otherwise, you'll be fine.
Note that the gun has to be unloaded and placed in a locked container and declared at the ticket counter. If you just throw your weapon in your suitcase, unloaded, it will fail the security thing and bad things will happen. Check continental's website for details of their procedure.
Funniest thing is, when you check in, you are generally required to unlock & open the case and show the counter agent that it is unloaded. What a security risk! So if anyone ever wanted to shoot up an airport terminal (ticket counter area), they can just do this, and when they pull it out to show the agent it's unloaded, surprise! This has always hit me as extremely stupid. Easiest way to get a loaded (any kind of weapon you want) into the airport ticketing area. Sheesh.