Experts: Tougher rules won't stop airport shooters

Esteban Santiago didn’t break any air travel gun laws until he loaded his 9 mm handgun at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and started firing in the baggage claim.

The horrific shootings that killed five people and wounded six raised the question whether U.S. airlines’ and airports’ gun transport rules are too lax.

However, airport websites and conversations with people who legally take their guns on airlines suggest gun regulations are appropriate, and similar to those at airports around the world.

Other than the extra paperwork, Americans who travel overseas with their guns legally for sport shooting see one major distinction.

“You don’t travel in pretty much any other country with a gun unless you can prove how you’re going to use it,” said Mathew Cervantes. He’s a hunting consultant with Outdoors International, a Boise, Idaho-based adventure travel company.

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Acceptable uses include going to a gunsmith, to a gun range or to a gun store, to participate in a sanctioned shooting competition or for permitted hunting.

U.S. hunters typically plan their overseas ventures at least a year in advance, Cervantes said.

That allows time to make arrangements with an in-country outfitter, who issues a written invitation for specific dates and to get the import license issued by the foreign government.

If you also plan to play tourist,  it’s usually best to rent the gun at the destination for your time hunting.

“It’s hard to be a tourist when you’re carrying a gun in your rental car,” said Cervantes, who lived in Europe 18 years while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

“Europeans look at gun possession as a luxury and a privilege – not a constitutional right,” Cervantes said.

Petra Tutschke is an International Practical Shooting Confederation world champion and an NRA-certified instructor who teaches in various parts of the world, including Florida, where she makes her home.

When she's traveled to Malaysia with pistols for shooting competitions, the carefully packed guns and ammunition do not come out with her other luggage on a regular airport conveyor belt..

Police or military officers inspect the gun owner's paperwork, and transport the ammunitions to the gun range. It stays there until the competition is over. Then, the officers also transport the guns and ammunition to the airport for her return flight.

"That did not make me feel any safer in that airport or in that country," said Tutschke, adding:

"The crime rate (in Malaysia) is really high. And illegal firearms and weapons are very common."

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Some parts of Africa are friendly to sport shooters, Cervantes said.

“Air Namibia loves hunters. They allow 22 pounds of free luggage, because they know you’re bringing a gun.”

Andrew Price, head of global baggage operations for the International Air Transport Association, outlined its gun transport guidelines as follows:

The passenger notifies the airline, and declares the weapon at check-in.

The airline then ensures that the weapon is unloaded and safely locked in a gun case.

Ammunition must be securely boxed, for personal use only and may not be carried in quantities exceeding 5 kg (11 pounds) per passenger.

The handler then takes custody of the bag, and escorts it to the flight. On arrival it will be delivered to the bag belt with other big items. Then the passenger has to show it to customs.

Airlines – including the plane’s captain – may impose additional restrictions, said AlecsDean, owner of International Firearm Safety Inc. in Fort Myers.

“We always recommend you contact the airline you’re using before you travel,” Dean said.

On its website, British Airways instructs gun owners to contact the airline at least 72 hours before the flight, to ensure compliance with government embargoes and restrictions.

Foreign governments at the national, state or local level can add restrictions on possessing firearms outside the airport, too.

No set of rules will prevent mentally deranged persons or terrorists from trying to use deadly force in a public area, safety experts say.

However, if armed law enforcement had been in the Fort Lauderdale bag claim area, “it’s likely the shooter would have been stopped sooner,” said Anthony Roman, CEO of the New York-based Roman & Associates investigations and risk management firm.

“We’re not learning from the incidents overseas,” Roman added.

By contrast, Roman cited the attacks at Brussels Airport, Belgium, on March 22 and those on June 28 at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey.

He quoted from a June 29 USA TODAY report, in which Turkey’s prime minister said a new security regimen adopted at the airport after the Brussels attacks helped disrupt plans of three terrorists looking to penetrate deeper into the terminal.

The Istanbul attackers’ bombs killed 42 people, but the death toll was likely lower than it could have been because an encounter with guards at the terminal’s doorway forced them to split up and set off the explosives earlier than planned.

Roman thinks beefing-up armed patrol of vulnerable areas including baggage claim, ticketing and parking, has merit for U.S. airports.

“To manage those areas, it would take a lot personnel, a lot of training – and bags full of money,” Roman conceded.

He believes Americans would get used to seeing officers with sophisticated firearms routinely on foot patrol in such areas.

“At first, people would be unsettled. But there would be quick acclimatization. All passengers understand the risk,” Roman said.

Todd Curtis is founder of the AirSafe.com website providing security and safety information to travelers and the aviation industry.

Reflecting on the Fort Lauderdale airport attack, he noted that about two months before, police in Anchorage, Alaska, took a firearm from Santiago – after he’d told the FBI about how his mind was being controlled.

The gun was later returned to Santiago after he was released from a mental health facility in Anchorage.

“It was clear the shooter had mental health issues,” Curtis said.

“That begs the question: What do I have to do to get my gun rights taken away?”

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