FFDO carry regulations

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Are FFDOs allowed to carry anywhere/anytime in the US as a "federal officer" or is it only within the scope of their job (protecting the flight deck)? Question based on a post I read somewhere else and could not find clarification.
 
who cares? they would be covered under US Code and / or LEOSA probably.

I care. I was looking for clarification, but it was for the reason you stated, actually. Under the FFDO page, it says this:

FDOs are authorized to transport secured firearms in any state for a flight on which they are flying to or from as approved by the Federal Air Marshal Service as necessary for their participation and activities in the program.

http://www.tsa.gov/lawenforcement/programs/ffdo_information.shtm

but would LEOSA cover them anyways?
 
i'm not LE, i just play with them. i honestly don't know.

i don't worry about where LE can / can NOT carry, but more where i CAN carry. [smile]

based on my experience, Federal LEO's can pretty much carry anywhere if they are performing their duties... for personal use, not so much... but then the LEOSA may or may NOT kick in...

INAL... my interactions and experience say that federal credentials will pretty much get the holder a free pass CC-ing... however, if the person was going on vacation to FL via Jet Blue, they'd have to check their firearm just like anyone else..... -but who knows, they may have a super secret squirrel method of bypassing the nudie machine or something...

**based on actual conversations / interactions** the real truth is probably different.
 
i'm not LE, i just play with them. i honestly don't know.

i don't worry about where LE can / can NOT carry, but more where i CAN carry. [smile]

based on my experience, Federal LEO's can pretty much carry anywhere if they are performing their duties... for personal use, not so much... but then the LEOSA may or may NOT kick in...

INAL... my interactions and experience say that federal credentials will pretty much get the holder a free pass CC-ing... however, if the person was going on vacation to FL via Jet Blue, they'd have to check their firearm just like anyone else..... -but who knows, they may have a super secret squirrel method of bypassing the nudie machine or something...

**based on actual conversations / interactions** the real truth is probably different.

Thanks man, I was coming to the same conclusions (as they were) By the way, "nudie machine" is the best name I have heard for that thing yet!
 
Are FFDOs allowed to carry anywhere/anytime in the US as a "federal officer" or is it only within the scope of their job (protecting the flight deck)?

They're not federal LE, and they're not covered by LEOSA. They're civilians allowed to be armed in limited circumstances.
 
As GSG said, no. IIRC They can't even load the gun until the cockpit door is closed and locked. When they go through security the gun is locked in a box.

The FFDO program was designed to be as annoying as possible to the people in it, with the feds hoping the people asking for it would just go away.

-Mike
 
NO, No, not at all...............

FFDOs are not granted or authorized to exercise other law enforcement powers such as the power to make arrests, or seek or execute warrants for arrest, or seizure of evidence, or to otherwise act as Federal law enforcement outside the jurisdiction of aircraft flight decks.

They have no STATUTORY or regulatory authority as L.E.[wink]
 
There is a lot of mis-information on this thread and this forum about the FFDO program. FFDOs are not allowed to disclose a lot of information and most could care less to define what is and or is-not shareable information so they just dont say anything at all. Most of the programs information has been put out there on the internet if you ever wanted to find out about it.

I will say that arguing over whether or not an FFDO is a federal officer or not is a little pedantic. Outside of an independently obtained carry permit they are not allowed to conceal carry in public. Photos of their credentials (along with a handful of other federal agencies credentials) ,which were leaked 2 years ago by a TSA "Officer" who uploaded his manual to the internet for all to see, do say they are federal law enforcement officers. They do not have power to make arrests or any other police duties. Their training is relatively short compared with regular leo's but they also dont have to study traffic law, civil law, arrest and detainment,... but they do shoot the same if not more then a regular local police officer in initial training.

They only wear their weapon on their hip in the cockpit and can only transport the weapon in a bag, locked between home-work, home-range, airport-hotel, hotel-range, home-requal. There are lots of rules just like every bureaucratic agency has and the program is not designed for people to abuse their position.

The program has lots of problems that need to be fixed but most of those problems are the nature of the beast. A lot of them are caused by budget issues because their budget has been frozen for years while the number of FFDO's has increased. They have enough people to where they switched their focus from getting guys into the program to getting everyone re-qualified.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion.
 
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I will say that arguing over whether or not an FFDO is a federal officer or not is a little pedantic.

Well the OP was a question about the limits of their authority (to carry firearms). [wink]

Photos of their credentials (along with a handful of other federal agencies credentials) ,which were leaked 2 years ago by a TSA "Officer" who uploaded his manual to the internet for all to see, do say they are federal law enforcement officers. They do not have power to make arrests or any other police duties. Their training is relatively short compared with regular leo's but they also dont have to study traffic law, civil law, arrest and detainment,... but they do shoot the same if not more then a regular local police officer in initial training.

The only aspects of LE that apply to FFDO's are the use and possession of loaded guns on the flight deck. They're given the title "law enforcement" because it's one of two exemptions to the USC that prohibits carrying a loaded firearm on board an aircraft, and it's the only practical exemption that can be applied to them. It's similar to people in red towns being issued a card that states "License to Carry Firearms" at the top, but that doesn't actually allow them to do so because of other restrictions.
 
FFDOs are not allowed to disclose a lot of information
Yup. On in CA had his FFDO credentials and CA CCW revoked for publicly criticizing the TSA.

do say they are federal law enforcement officers.
This is because congress was allergic to passing legislation that would non-LEO to carry. Although technically LEO, they have VERY limited authority compared to traditional LEOs.
 
They do not have power to make arrests or any other police duties.

From LEOSA-
(c) As used in this section, the term “qualified law enforcement officer” means an employee of a governmental agency who
(1) is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any person for, any violation of law, and has statutory powers of arrest;

No arrest powers - no LEOSA coverage.
 
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