CC questions for a trip to Nevada and Arizona

[L T C]

Never flew with any of my weapons before. Some of the places I will be traveling to I have read are hot spots for thieves... far away from PD patrol areas, so I thought I'd bring a little of my own protection just in case. I see Arizona has reciprocity with PA for concealed carry, I have a PA CC permit. I will be flying into Vegas, renting a car and going right out of Nevada into Arizona for the duration of my Southwest travel, and will be flying out from Arizona. Nevada doesn't recognize the PA CC, so what should I do in Nevada, just keep the handgun locked up in the suitcase? Also, as far as carrying a small pocketknife, and a one cell Surefire flashlight, how do you fly with those items? Stow them in the suitcase? Do you have to declare them along with the gun? Last question if you don't mind... if I pack my gun (Glock 26) in its original hard case, unloaded, but with two loaded mags in the case with it, and I have the case locked, my travel bag is a soft sided bag, not very secure, I was thinking of using a small cable lock to "secure" the locked gun box to the bag, just to keep the gun box and the bag together. Does that sound cool? Has anyone else traveling with soft sided bags done it like that? I keep thinking about the sticker or tag labeling the weapon and how it could be tempting to a possible less than honest baggage handling employee, or is packing while traveling so common that it is not going to be as tempting a target?
Thanks for any advice/help! I do not fly often enough to be travel savvy to know what to do with stuff like the pocketknife, the Surefire, or the gun for that matter.

[donm]

... Nevada doesn't recognize the PA CC, so what should I do in Nevada, just keep the handgun locked up in the suitcase? Also, as far as carrying a small pocketknife, and a one cell Surefire flashlight, how do you fly with those items? Stow them in the suitcase? Do you have to declare them along with the gun? Last question if you don't mind... if I pack my gun (Glock 26) in its original hard case, unloaded, but with two loaded mags in the case with it, and I have the case locked, my travel bag is a soft sided bag, not very secure, I was thinking of using a small cable lock to "secure" the locked gun box to the bag, just to keep the gun box and the bag together. Does that sound cool? Has anyone else traveling with soft sided bags done it like that? I keep thinking about the sticker or tag labeling the weapon and how it could be tempting to a possible less than honest baggage handling employee, or is packing while traveling so common that it is not going to be as tempting a target?
Thanks for any advice/help! I do not fly often enough to be travel savvy to know what to do with stuff like the pocketknife, the Surefire, or the gun for that matter.

I'd just leave the gun in the suitcase until I get to "safe" territory (in your case, AZ). I'd check on the laws for transporting in NV, though, to be sure. Go to handgunlaw.us and print out the .pdf docs for NV and AZ.

I just flew with guns for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Check the web site of your airline for their rules on carrying firearms. They do differ on things like whether ammo can be in the same locked case as the gun. The gun(s) have to be in a hard sided case with a non-TSA lock. The more secure the outer bag is, the better (that should be a TSA lock). I kind of like your idea about securing the gun box to the bag if there's no better option, but how the airline people interpret the rules is unpredictable. One time they had me place the tag inside the locked gun case; the other time in the outer bag outside the case. As long as it gets through TSA screening I'm OK with it. It is illegal for them to indicate on the outer bag that it contains firearms (they did this years ago -- they became known as "steal me" tags).

Put the knife in the checked bag (or inside the gun case). The airline couldn't care less about it, just don't try to carry it on with you I carried my Surefire Backup onto the plane in my carry-on without a glance.

When you go to the airport, look for a check-in counter for special items (like skis, golf clubs, etc.). Tell them you are declaring firearms and they'll hand you a red tag to sign, declaring the guns unloaded. They may or may not want you to open the case and show them that they are unloaded. Don't leave to head off to the gate until the bag has been cleared by TSA. That process varies widely between airports. If they take it for screening, they come back and tell you that it cleared.

Have a safe flight,
Don

[L T C]

Thanks Don! That is a lot of good info that will help me out at the airport.

[Fetus]

Never flew with any of my weapons before. Some of the places I will be traveling to I have read are hot spots for thieves... far away from PD patrol areas, so I thought I'd bring a little of my own protection just in case. I see Arizona has reciprocity with PA for concealed carry, I have a PA CC permit. I will be flying into Vegas, renting a car and going right out of Nevada into Arizona for the duration of my Southwest travel, and will be flying out from Arizona. Nevada doesn't recognize the PA CC, so what should I do in Nevada, just keep the handgun locked up in the suitcase? Also, as far as carrying a small pocketknife, and a one cell Surefire flashlight, how do you fly with those items? Stow them in the suitcase? Do you have to declare them along with the gun? Last question if you don't mind... if I pack my gun (Glock 26) in its original hard case, unloaded, but with two loaded mags in the case with it, and I have the case locked, my travel bag is a soft sided bag, not very secure, I was thinking of using a small cable lock to "secure" the locked gun box to the bag, just to keep the gun box and the bag together. Does that sound cool? Has anyone else traveling with soft sided bags done it like that? I keep thinking about the sticker or tag labeling the weapon and how it could be tempting to a possible less than honest baggage handling employee, or is packing while traveling so common that it is not going to be as tempting a target?
Thanks for any advice/help! I do not fly often enough to be travel savvy to know what to do with stuff like the pocketknife, the Surefire, or the gun for that matter.

Arizona is very pro-gun .... however in Nevada I would not bring a gun to Las Vegas -they have their own special rules and require all guns to be registered within a certain time -- (even if you have a CCW ).