The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > Law and Civil Rights

View Poll Results: can i shoot my gun the same day as flying on a plane and not get in trouble
yes 18 81.82%
no 4 18.18%
Voters: 22. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old January 5, 2016, 09:14 PM   #1
Killabee-23
Member
 
Join Date: November 9, 2015
Location: Middlebury Vermont
Posts: 45
TSA gun powder residue

i am going to vegas on jan 7th with my wife to see her parents. And i haven't flown since they have put in all those new machines in. i shoot my guns about every other day and since i can't bring my gun there i was wondering if i go shooting early in the day and then go to the airport will they be able to see gun shot residue on my hands? and if so will this get me into trouble? i would really like to know the answer to this I'm very curious thanks
Killabee-23 is offline  
Old January 5, 2016, 09:37 PM   #2
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: June 25, 2008
Location: Austin, CO
Posts: 19,578
I worked for TSA for several years. Gun powder residue is irrelevant.
__________________
Nobody plans to screw up their lives...
...they just don't plan not to.
-Andy Stanley
Brian Pfleuger is offline  
Old January 5, 2016, 10:10 PM   #3
TXAZ
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 5, 2010
Location: McMurdo Sound Texas
Posts: 4,322
The companies that make the detectors advertise sensitivity to TNT, RDX, PETN, HMX, Semtex, Tetryl, C4, PE -4, COMP B & ANFO. Brian probably can't confirm or deny, but that's what they're selling. You can do the math.
__________________

Cave illos in guns et backhoes
TXAZ is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 02:29 AM   #4
Killabee-23
Member
 
Join Date: November 9, 2015
Location: Middlebury Vermont
Posts: 45
thanks

thanks i appreciate it. i didn't think it would be a big deal but i was just curious because i heard somebody say that if you have shot a gun within the last 24 hours that they can tell and it looks suspicious. lol
Killabee-23 is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 09:38 AM   #5
Panfisher
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 30, 2010
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,337
Well I probably wouldn't go through security with my hands black from powder residue. Otherwise, wash your hands and change clothes maybe. If you get flagged for a pat down, close you eyes and try to enjoy it.
Panfisher is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 09:50 AM   #6
MarkCO
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 21, 1998
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 4,294
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of competitors that fly all over the country to shoot major matches. Many leave the range after 2 or 3 days of shooting and go straight to the airport. I have yet to hear of gun powder residue being an issue.

Now a round or spent case in a pocket and many other "possible" mistakes one could make under those conditions, I hear of regularly. However, other than missing a flight or the stress of being detained and questioned, I have yet to hear of a competitor actually being charged in any of these cases. Even two cases last year of loaded carry guns in backpacks, neither was charged.
__________________
Good Shooting, MarkCO
www.CarbonArms.us
MarkCO is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 11:09 AM   #7
wogpotter
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 27, 2004
Posts: 4,811
I flew for work a lot as a photographer. My Camera Gadget bad doubled as my range bag for quite a while.
My leather bomber jacket was my usual range attire as well.
At one point I photographed artillery & machine giun fire for a client & flew home the same evening, wearing the same clothes, carrying the same bag.

Nothing happened.
__________________
Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”?

Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”
wogpotter is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 12:39 PM   #8
Technosavant
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 29, 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO area
Posts: 4,040
Personally, I keep travel and range bags completely separate. No risk of ammo or guns in my travel luggage.

Then there's the matter of residue, but as others have said the powder residue isn't much of an issue. IMO, lead dust is. As a matter of health, it's best to at the very least wash your hands well after a range visit. I like to even shower and change clothes too- that way there's nothing on my person that could be a problem.
Technosavant is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 01:13 PM   #9
Reloader54
Member
 
Join Date: January 8, 2015
Location: Tempe,AZ
Posts: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by Killabee-23 View Post
i am going to vegas on jan 7th with my wife to see her parents. And i haven't flown since they have put in all those new machines in. i shoot my guns about every other day and since i can't bring my gun there i was wondering if i go shooting early in the day and then go to the airport will they be able to see gun shot residue on my hands? and if so will this get me into trouble? i would really like to know the answer to this I'm very curious thanks
I don't think it will be a problem. Just when you get home from shooting make sure to wash your hands like you should do after you shoot or handle your guns or ammo. That should get rid of most if not all of the gunpowder residue. Have a safe trip.
Reloader54 is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 03:03 PM   #10
wogpotter
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 27, 2004
Posts: 4,811
Washing hands is a good idea from the EHS point of View, but won't do anything for GSR detection.
__________________
Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”?

Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”
wogpotter is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 03:36 PM   #11
FITASC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 6, 2014
Posts: 6,422
Quote:
and since i can't bring my gun there
Why can't you bring your gun there?
Folks do it all the time.
__________________
"I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa
FITASC is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 03:54 PM   #12
44 AMP
Staff
 
Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,617
The machines are not infallible, nor are the people manning them.

Granted, it was before today's current level of paranoia, but I used to work in a very paranoid place (nuclear fuel reprocessing) which had x-ray machine, metal detectors and a bomb sniffer. The first few days, the sniffer alarmed on nearly everything. Then the sensitivity was adjusted, so that didn't happen.

Went shooting, had visible powder residue on my hands, no alarm
filled the lawn mower before leaving for work, smelled of gas, no alarm.

Typically, the residue level from shooting will not set off alarms, BUT, if it does, so what? As long as you don't have anything on their prohibited list, the most that can happen is some under informed zealot wastes your time.

There are lots of common items that contain the same base chemicals as explosives, but are not explosives.
__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.
44 AMP is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 03:58 PM   #13
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: June 25, 2008
Location: Austin, CO
Posts: 19,578
Quote:
Originally Posted by Killabee-23
i heard somebody say that if you have shot a gun within the last 24 hours that they can tell and it looks suspicious. lol
They don't check and don't care.

You'll hear all kinds of things about what "they" do and look for and detect and who knows what, from supposed body cavity searches to inquiries about sexual activity and god knows what else.... but you'll never see any evidence for any of it.
__________________
Nobody plans to screw up their lives...
...they just don't plan not to.
-Andy Stanley
Brian Pfleuger is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 04:25 PM   #14
MarkCO
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 21, 1998
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 4,294
I am pretty amazed by this poll. 27% voted that it would be a problem.
__________________
Good Shooting, MarkCO
www.CarbonArms.us
MarkCO is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 05:39 PM   #15
wogpotter
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 27, 2004
Posts: 4,811
Quote:
There are lots of common items that contain the same base chemicals as explosives, but are not explosives.
True, I'd forgotten that.

We flew to Mystic Connecticut to decommission a large photo-processing facility. The decommissioning involved breaking down film & paper processors containing hundreds of gallons of chemistry, much of which is rich in EDTA. By the end of the 2 weeks we were saturated with EDTA as were all our clothes & luggage.

Nothing happened.

Much scarier is the fact that I used to carry 2 large(ish) boxes that contained 510volt high speed strobe batteries. They were big boxes worn on a belt, very obvious. We used to wear them to security & drop them into the bin for X-ray checking & they always went through without a word. I once saw the x-ray image. I've never seen anything that looked quite so much like a TV thriller "bomb". Mysterious electronics, dark scary looking cylinders & even those "must have" curly bomb wires.
I got more problems when a co-worker stuffed my suitcase with folded rubber chickens that sprang out all over the place one time!
__________________
Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”?

Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”
wogpotter is offline  
Old January 6, 2016, 09:42 PM   #16
44 AMP
Staff
 
Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,617
For a long time I used one of the classic curved lid (where the thermos goes) lunch buckets. For years I had a box in there (actually the box from and RCBS Powder Trickler), that I put my change in (for the vending machines).

ONE time, after it went through the x-ray machine, the guard asked me to open it up, and open the box. He looked inside, them smiled, and motioned me to follow him.

He took me to a side window of the guard post, where I could see the screen from the x-ray machine. Inside that box was the blurry outline of a semi auto pistol, you could see the grip shape, the "slide" and even the trigger guard.

It was all coins, that just happened to lay in that pattern, that one time.

We all had a good laugh over it.
__________________
All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.
44 AMP is offline  
Old January 7, 2016, 12:07 AM   #17
raimius
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 27, 2008
Posts: 2,199
There is some chance that something will get picked up.
My range bag caught it once, as did my flight helmet bag (jet fuel?)

They simply take the bag/article aside and do a quick test. It takes less than a minute.
raimius is offline  
Reply

Tags
airport , gunpowder , legal , tsa

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:45 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.10453 seconds with 9 queries