Flying from Florida to ct

[Cedric jgt]

Join Date: May 15, 2009 Posts: 57

Urgent! Can I fly from Florida to CT with my handgun? I am currently in Florida and spend 6 months of each years there ,I am flying home in two weeks to Connecticut until next season but I don’t have a Connecticut pistol permit . So my question is this: can I declare that I have an unloaded handgun at the Fl airport that I want to transport back to my house in CT without getting arrested at Westchester airport NY ?

 

[CrackPot]

I was with you until you said you were flying through NY. Never possess a gun in that part of NY as they do not allow freedom and will arrest you. They will let the courts sort it out. FOPA is an affirmative defense but you will have to fight and win (which you should).

If you flew into Bradley it would be a non-issue. CT you can possess w/o a permit so it is not an issue. The problem in your question is NY. MAYBE white plains is far enough from the axis of evil which is NYC, but I would not bet my freedom on it. JFK, La Guardia, Islip will all jam you up.

 

[Echo 225]

 

[allen-1]

I'm not sure about CT. I live in GA and CT, so I know a bit about CT's laws - but I have a CT non-resident permit which you do not.
If time weren't of the essence, and for next year - I'd get a non-resident CT permit; it will resolve some of your questions.
That being said - which isn't particularly helpful today - here are my thoughts:

You can legally posess the firearm in CT without a permit. You can't carry it, and you can't buy ammo, but you can posess the firearm. I don't know under what circumstances you can have it in your posession off of your own property without a permit. So your problem is getting it to your property in CT, (legally ??).

As far as flying into NY with it - DON'T. You have to declare it at your originating airport when you check the luggage in, and when you take posession of it in NY, you're breaking their laws. FOPA perhaps "should" cover that, but I believe that you've got serious potential for being charges with posession of a firearm - without a license.

If I were you, I'd leave the gun home, get my CT permit and fly into CT airport next time.

Yeah - I'm advising taking no risk - it's not worth the potential headaches.

 

[appraiser]

If you were driving, I'd say put it unloaded in the trunk and drive, but since you are going thru NY by air, a state where FOPA is routinely ignored by some departments and agencies, I would ask you how much risk you are willing to take.

Under FOPA, so long as you are legal at your start point, and legal at your destination, you are supposedly allowed safe passage for a properly declared and prepared firearm ( in the proper TSA container, ammo not in the same container, etc etc etc), and in theory you would be legal to transport unloaded in Ct to your destination where you don't need a permit to have a weapon in your home.

If something goes wrong are you in a position to get lawyered up, post bail, and defend yourself in court?

Personally, and UPS and FedEx can go eff themselves, I'd break the weapon down put the parts that do not constitute a firearm in my checked bags ( slide, barrel, mags) and I'd ship the frame to myself UPS second day air with tracking without telling UPS what was in the box.

There is no need to declare gun parts in your checked bags

Or you could mail the slide and other parts to yourself USPS

 

[CrackPot]

If you were driving, I'd say put it unloaded in the trunk and drive, but since you are going thru NY by air, a state where FOPA is routinely ignored by some departments and agencies, I would ask you how much risk you are willing to take.

Under FOPA, so long as you are legal at your start point, and legal at your destination, you are supposedly allowed safe passage for a properly declared and prepared firearm ( in the proper TSA container, ammo not in the same container, etc etc etc), and in theory you would be legal to transport unloaded in Ct to your destination where you don't need a permit to have a weapon in your home.

If something goes wrong are you in a position to get lawyered up, post bail, and defend yourself in court?

Personally, and UPS and FedEx can go eff themselves, I'd break the weapon down put the parts that do not constitute a firearm in my checked bags ( slide, barrel, mags) and I'd ship the frame to myself UPS second day air with tracking without telling UPS what was in the box.

There is no need to declare gun parts in your checked bags

Or you could mail the slide and other parts to yourself USPS

As a dealer that has always accepted shipments directly from gun owners (I dont require them to use an FFL since there is no legal requirement), I can tell you that people routinely ignore UPS and FexEx woke policies and ship me complete firearms. It is completely 100% legal but a violation of their policies and terms of use. Dont bother using their insurance since if there is a loss, they will decline given what was lost...

 

[appraiser]

that was kind of my point, it is legal to ship a firearm by Common Carrier, it is the carriers stupid rules that scare people

I just wouldn't ship a complete gun unless it was by their rules

 

[jakeroub]

Ship with tracking and include an Apple AirTag, preferably somehow attached to the firearm.