I don’t mean in terms of keeping me safe, but I called them and they give me quick precise answers to my questions.

Since I’m going to be traveling with a gun this week, I’ve done the research to find out how it needs to be packed. Here’s Continental’s firearms guidelines and here’s the TSA’s firearms guidelines.

What wasn’t clear to me was if it had to be a TSA Lock.

I called Continental and asked them my questions and the lady actually asked “Are you carrying that on?” I laugh at her and said “You can’t carry a gun on the plane.” She gave me the same information that is on the website and she gave me the TSA 1800 number.

I was a little worried when the TSA’s first question was “Have you called before? What is your name? What is a number I can call you at if we get disconnected?” Little big brother there, but the guy answered my questions quickly.

For the record, you can use a regular lock to lock your firearms in a hard case. You don’t have to wait for them to be screened, just lock it at the check in counter and that’s it.