Guns To Be Allowed On Most Amtrak Trains

Blitz1

Blitz1

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Typical misleading LSM lead sentence, which is all that many people read. The AMTRAK regulations are being changed to be essentially the same as what they are now for airlines, i.e., unloaded guns can be transported in checked baggage (only) - that's hardly what I'd call "allowed to carry guns". When they read the story on the Channel 5 news this morning, they made sure to add that it was something the NRA pushed for, making it look like the "gun nuts" were at it again.
 
Rail cars are being retrofitted with weapons storage lockers.
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The seem intent on sparing no expense to convince the public that unloaded guns in luggage are somehow a bad thing.
 
Some what old news since the change was made in The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 which was signed by the President back on December 16, 2009, and goes into effect on December 15, 2010.

Per the Amtrak Baggage Policy page...
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267293829
Firearms in Checked Baggage
The Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, enacted into law on December 16, 2009, requires Amtrak to implement the procedures necessary to provide storage and carriage of firearms in checked baggage cars and at Amtrak stations that accept checked baggage, within one year of the bill’s enactment. This requirement applies solely to checked baggage, not carry-on baggage.

Amtrak’s current policy prohibits all firearms, ammunition and other weapons aboard its trains. This includes any being carried on the person, in carry-on baggage or in checked baggage. Please be advised that this policy remains in effect until Amtrak begins firearms carriage in checked baggage on December 15, 2010; starting on this date all passengers wishing to check firearms or ammunition will be required to follow the Firearms Policy.
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http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1248542758975
Firearms in Checked Baggage
Effective December 15, 2010, passengers will be allowed to check unloaded firearms and ammunition between Amtrak stations and on Amtrak trains that offer checked baggage service. The following policies apply:

Notification that the passenger will be checking firearms/ammunition must be made no later than 24 hours before train departure by calling Amtrak at 800-USA-RAIL. Online reservations for firearms/ammunition are not accepted.

All firearms and/or ammunition must be checked at least 30 minutes prior to train departure. Some larger stations require that baggage be checked earlier.

All firearms (rifles, shotguns, handguns, starter pistols) must be unloaded and in an approved, locked hard-sided container not exceeding 62" L x 17" W x 7" D (1575 mm x 432 mm x 178 mm). The passenger must have sole possession of the key or the combination for the lock to the container. The weight of the container may not exceed 50 lb/23 kg.

Smaller locked, hard-sided containers containing smaller unloaded firearms such as handguns and starter pistols must be securely stored within a suitcase or other item of checked baggage, but the existence of such a firearm must be declared.

All ammunition carried must be securely packed in the original manufacturer's container; in fiber, wood, or metal boxes; or in other packaging specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition. The maximum weight of all ammunition and containers may not exceed 11 lb/5 kg.

The passenger is responsible for knowing and following all federal, state, and local firearm laws at all jurisdictions to and through which he or she will be travelling.

All other Amtrak checked baggage policies apply, including limits on the number of pieces of checked baggage, the maximum weight of each piece (50 lb/23 kg).

Firearms/ammunition may not be carried in carry-on baggage; therefore, checked baggage must be available on all trains and at all stations in the passenger's itinerary.

At the time of check-in, passengers will be required to complete and sign a two-part Declaration Form.

BB guns and Compressed Air Guns (to include paintball markers), are to be treated as firearms and must comply with the above firearms policy. Canisters, tanks, or other devices containing propellants must be emptied prior to checking and securely packaged within the contents of the passenger's luggage.

Notice: Passengers failing to meet the above-mentioned requirements for checking firearms will be denied transportation.
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well, this part actually makes a little more sense than how the mass ammo storage law reads...

All ammunition carried must be securely packed in the original manufacturer's container; in fiber, wood, or metal boxes; or in other packaging specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition. The maximum weight of all ammunition and containers may not exceed 11 lb/5 kg.
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so I'm guessing an ammo can is out of the question? What is defined as a "small amount"
 
Baldkat82 said:
I'm guessing metal detectors aren't far behind legislation like this...
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I'm guessing that it won't be practical, unless they require arrivals hours ahead of time, have secure passenger areas etc. After all where are you going to hijack a train to?
 
rwl1955 said:
They "allow" me to store a gun in my luggage? Really? Who stores a gun in their luggage? I would carry mine on the train.
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Uh yes. If you fly on an airlines with a firearm they make you put it in, or include it with, your CHECKED luggage. Amtrack is now simply doing the same.

ETA: Previously Amtrak banned all firearms from their trains, in both checked and carry on luggage.
 
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EC1 said:
I'm guessing that it won't be practical, unless they require arrivals hours ahead of time, have secure passenger areas etc. After all where are you going to hijack a train to?
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Very true, I haven't taken a train in awhile.... I forget the stations are pretty open. You'd literally have to rebuild them to make that feasable at most stations.
 
I wasn't aware that you couldn't carry a firearm on an Amtrak train in the first place. I also don't get how carrying a firearm on a train (loaded or unloaded) equates in anyway to the September 11 attacks. Or the Madrid or London train attacks for that matter. In no case did the terrorists use firearms. In fact, had passengers been allowed to be armed, there is a chance that the September 11 attacks wouldn't have happened at all. In any event banning firearms either from being carried or transported in secured luggage does nothing to enhance security. Based on what happened in Long Island a few years back, I'd suggest the exact opposite is true. Having licensed firearms owners carrying their concealed firearms when in public enhances the safety of everyone.
 
Garys said:
I wasn't aware that you couldn't carry a firearm on an Amtrak train in the first place.
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Not everyone reads the Amtrak baggage policy page where the very first prohibited item(s) listed is; gun, firearms, ammunition, explosives or weapons.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241267293829
Prohibited Items
The following kinds of items are prohibited as both checked and carry-on baggage:

Any type of gun, firearm, ammunition, explosives, or weapon. (See note below regarding firearms in checked baggage)
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EC1 said:
I'm guessing that it won't be practical, unless they require arrivals hours ahead of time, have secure passenger areas etc. After all where are you going to hijack a train to?
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Didn't you know that there is no warning where a train will go. You take a train in any direction you want. It's not like it's on a track or something...............[popcorn]
 
Probably very few people do. On the rare instances where I'm traveling on Amtrak, it's interstate so I wouldn't be likely to carry anyway. The exception to that would have been a couple of years ago when I took the Downeaster to Portland, ME. I'm licensed in MA, NH, and ME, so it would be legal for me to carry once I got off the train, but I'd have been violating their rules (if not actual law) by carrying on the train. Absurd when you think of it. Standing in North Station - Legal. Carrying in Portland - Legal. Carrying on the train between the two - prohibited. Well up to now, when if I declare the firearm 24 hours in advance, place it unloaded in a locked container and place it in the baggage car (along with the monkey no doubt), it's OK.
 
Amtrak is a non-issue here in the midwest, so I mostly don't GAF about their policies.

However, Ohio is making some noise about starting intrastate rail service between major cities (read: crime cesspools). First it will be normal trains then later high speed (ya right) rail.

I will most likely NEVER take one of those trains if it ever comes to pass. Why? Simple. Ohio law, like most other "free states" bans CCW in .gov buildings. If these trains are .gov run (as they will most likely be since no private business is stupid enough to get into such a money pit), then the stations will most likely be .gov property which makes CCW a felony there. I am not going to check my pistol in a suitcase, only to have to hassle with loading up and holstering somewhere else at arrival.

Out here we are not gridlocked like you guys are and like SoCal and Seattle are. I can drive to Columbus in 1.5 hrs or less through various interstate and US/state routes. I can be in Indy in two hours, Cincinnati in one hour, and in Cleveleand in three. By the time I drove to a train station in Dayton, parked, waited, rode, and found a rental car at my destination, I'd be behind my drive time and out even more money.

F rail travel.
 
Pilgrim said:
I see nothing there that prevents CCW. My gun on my side is not carry on baggage any more than my cell phone is.
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I believe that (as with airlines) it's prohibited by 18 U.S.C. 922(e)...

...any passenger who owns or legally possesses a firearm or ammunition being transported aboard any common or contract carrier for movement with the passenger in interstate or foreign commerce may deliver said firearm or ammunition into the custody of the pilot, captain, conductor or operator of such common or contract carrier for the duration of the trip...
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http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00000922----000-.html
 
sbhaven said:
Uh yes. If you fly on an airlines with a firearm they make you put it in, or include it with, your CHECKED luggage. Amtrack is now simply doing the same.

ETA: Previously Amtrak banned all firearms from their trains, in both checked and carry on luggage.
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Uh yes, I am aware you have to declare and store a firearm on a plane. Amtrack doesn`t have metal detector`s to search passengers so I would just carry my Glock if I was traveling by Amtrack. And even if they have metal detectors I carry a Glock, which we all know can`t be detected because they are "plastic".
 
Carry of any type should be allowed at all government buildings, vehicles, etc. They are not private businesses, and should have to allow all rights afforded in the constitution on PUBLIC property.
 

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