JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As many may be catching a flight for the holiday season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would like to remind gun owners to travel responsibly with their firearms. In fact, TSA officials gave a demonstration at Jacksonville International Airport Monday morning about how gun owners can avoid holiday headaches and penalties at the checkpoints.
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“The two most important things when packing a firearm is making sure it’s unloaded and secured in a hard-sided case, and declaring it to the airline,” TSA Regional Spokesperson Mark Howell said on Monday.
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For those who fail to follow the rules, it could impose some serious penalties.
“It’s gonna get law enforcement involved, you’re gonna get a civil penalty from TSA, which can now go up to $15,000, you’re gonna lose eligibility for TSA precheck for a period of up to five years,” Howell said. “You’re also going to be get enhanced screening when you come back to the security checkpoint after you take care of the firearm that day … it’s essentially the opposite of TSA precheck.”
Proper packing of firearms when flying is also an increasingly important message, as TSA says they’re seeing it happen more and more often following the passing of permitless carry in Florida this past summer.
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“You’ve got a lot more people who are carrying firearms on a day-to-day basis. So people are heading out the door with their cellphone, their keys, their wallet, and now their gun,” Howell explained. “We’ve had a total of 68 guns at the checkpoint this year. To put that into perspective, we had a total of 73 last year. So it’s not outside the realm of possibility that we will break last year’s record for firearms.”
TSA also noted on Monday that it’s important to know the gun laws of your destination, as you don’t want to be arrested for taking out your firearm in a state where it’s not legal.
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