doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How bad is flying through Heathrow with a shotgun?

It's one of my options in December...

I did it three years ago and didn't have too much trouble. Nobody seemed to really know what the rules were, they finally stuck me in a room by myself with a policeman / security guard that barely spoke English. But he looked over my guns, permit, and ammunition then gave me the OK to be on my way.

I'd fly into Gatwick if that's a choice, the airport is much smaller and easier to navigate.

I flew into Heathrow on a domestic from Glasgow then had to switch to the International Terminal. I couldn't find a shuttle so finally just hiked over there with my huge guncase and duffles in tow on a cart. I'd say the walk was over a mile, maybe two, and it was no fun at all toting that gear.


Destry

I agree totally with Destry. Heathrow is a cluster f?@#. Anywhere is else would be a better choice if possible. And that's regardless of gun/no gun.

A friend of mine went through last year on the way to Africa for a hunt.
They spent the night in London and had to pay a firm 1000.00 to lock up his guns etc at Heathrow overnight before the next days flight. These people are frightning. They let Muslims enter the country at will and treat Sportsmen like terrorists.One Customs person even asked my friend , "are you here to shoot one of our Policemen?"

Post deleted by Run With The Fox

I had absolutely no problems at Gatwick whatsover other than the security office kept telling me that "special handlers" would be bringing my guncase up from baggage for customs inspection. I stood around for half an hour waiting then finally wandered over only to find it going round and round on the belt.

I carried it back to the security office and they were much surprised. The man walked me over to customs and actually lied to the customs official telling him that the "special handlers" had brought it up. He winked at me as he turned around away from the desk and I never said a word of course.

Destry

Taking a gun through Gatwick was/is a breeze. Taking it through Kennedy was/is something else entirely. They had to get a cop out of NYC to certify that the gun was unloaded and in three parts. Took about 1 1/2 hours & just about missed my connecting flight.

Best Regards, George

Not much worse than flying to heathrow with no guns...
We waited 1h30m to have a luggage belt assigned to our flight.
Gatwick is always better, gun or no gun.

Montana, have you heard about Heathrow's T5?
Scary stuff.

JC

I have done it regularly and had no problems at Heathrow. The last time, however, getting on the United flight in SF to LHR was a nightmare - the United people had no idea how to deal with it, were very hostile and delayed the full 747 for over an hour while they slowly realized that I knew the rules and they didn't. No idea why they could not check their own website and learn the procedure in a few seconds - took them four hours.