...When Travelling with Sporting Weapons

 

 

 

TIP 1

When commuting through New York, Washington and Atlanta please make sure you have a minimum of 2hrs between flights, after recent research it shows that 83% of firearms did not make it to South Africa on the same flight as the owner, if the in-transit period was less than 2hrs.

 

 

TIP 2

After arriving in SA and need to take a connecting flight give yourself a minimum of 3hrs between arrival and departure to your next destination.

 

 

TIP 3

Confirm you put your firearm in an approved airline firearm case. Do not pack your firearm in your checked luggage in an ordinary suitcase.

 

 

TIP 4

Ammunition must be packed in a lockable box with key and placed in the checked luggage.

 

*Ammo found in checked luggage in a manufacturer's box or just thrown in will be taken out and put into a plastic bag and sent to the next destination. It is then the responsibility of the passenger to get the ammo home, which he can't do if his luggage has been checked through to his home base.

 

There are two options here:

1. The passenger adheres to having the ammo put into a locked box OR

2. They check bags to their departure airport. Collect bags and firearms, ammo in the plastic bag and then goes and rechecks onto the flight home.

 

 

TIP 5

Please mark your firearm case clearly with your name, address and contact number, often we find cases with no identification on them and struggle to get them returned to the owner as we have to search the lost luggage files at the airlines and get a description of the bag before trying to trace it's owner.

 

 

TIP 6

Make sure you have the US customs forms 4457 or your license (depending on where you come from) when you leave home, we had a fair number of people arriving without proof of ownership and wanting to get a temporary firearm permit on arrival, The Embassy of the United State has been helpful in this regard, but you do loose 2/3 days of your hunt getting the right paperwork together.