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barres wrote: When I flew out of El Paso witha firearm in my checked baggage, the counter person took my bag back to the TSA Inspectors and would not allow me to accompany my bag. I had to unlock everything, hand over my bag unlocked (with gun case unlocked and ammo in the suitcase), and wait until I landed in Houston to find out if the counter person or someone else lifted my CCW from my suitcase before the locks were locked. From Houston to El Paso was just as you described, but the return trip made me very nervous. It's not that I don't trust anybody; okay, yes it is.

The counter person and TSA both violated TSA's own rules and practices and you should file formal complaints.

KBCraig wrote:The gun case itself should have a non-TSA lock. Only the passenger should have access to the gun case contents.

If it has a TSA lock, then TSA (and many others who aren't supposed to have TSA keys, but do) can open the case.

TSA regs call for the lock on the hard sided case to be pretty much unique. A TSA lock on the suitcase is not a bad idea, TSA might have reason to open it (if the gun is obscuring something else in the suitcase under it) and it's easier on them and you. There are very few suitcase locks, including some pretty sophisticated ones, that are not easy to defeat, so from personal experience as both a TSA screener and a traveler I would recommend a really tough lock or lock on your gun case and a deterrant type on the suitcase.