Originally Posted by
Airsporter1st
" Have you been given or are you carrying anything on behalf of anyone else?"
"Er - yes, I'm carrying a gun for my relative."
"Walk this way sir...."
Ummm well actually it was not a gun (ammo components) but it's quite irrelevant who was doing the carrying, if it was (and still is) perfectly legal to do so, and the airline has no problem (both boxes ticked) then the police who did the confiscating also with a view to destroy were completely out of order, and were it not for a couple of phonecalls and follow up emails from me putting them straight, the items, a few hundred pounds worth, would have been destroyed, no doubt.
They later simply returned them without comment, and I later took them out of the country via the exact same route, 100% declared.
That's my point, if even the police (firearms officers no less) have no idea, then what chance have you with a check-in clerk? You need to have all your answers ready and to put it bluntly show them who is in charge. Even simple stuff like referring to air rifles, pistols or whatever, as "pellet guns" rather than "-rifles" or "-pistols" makes a hell of a difference as to whether you just get sent to baggage pre-screening or you get a full complement of kevlar-clad glocked-up firearms rapid response officers - been there, done that, too.
I have taken out up to 12 guns at once in my luggage and never had a major problem, but I have known people to attempt to export just a couple, same airport, same airline, same procedure, and fail.
It's not right that someone should be penalised not for doing any wrong but just because of others' incompetence, but that's the way it is right now.
**WANTED**: WEBLEY PATRIOT MUZZLE END; Any Diana/Original mod.50 parts, especially OPEN SIGHTS