I just got home from yet another fantastic trip to Los Chanares. I got to experience the new gun rules, some of which are new this week I am told.

Getting the permit from the consulate took a bit of time but was not that much of a problem. They asked for a bunch of information,most of which was readily available. There were a couple of items that were not readily available. One was the hunting license. The other was that all of this information had to be notarized. Then they wanted proof that the notary was in fact a notary. This is where the problem started as they wanted some sort of weird certification. We went round and round with the state of FL for a couple of weeks. When we finally got it, the permit was issued in no time.

My big trouble started in BA. It was in no way related to the process. I knew from the Delta app that my bags were on the plane. I got one bag quickly. I waited and waited and waited and waited for my gun case. I waited almost an hour. Then for some reason, I took about 3 steps to my left. I happened to look over my shoulder. There was my gun case sitting on the floor. It most have been there the entire time. I was happy.

Now the start of the NEW procedures. Someone from Delta had to go with me to RENAR. At RENAR, it was largely the same as it has been. However, I had to hire a local to be responsible for the guns at a cost of $300. I got done at RENAR then the Delta rep and a police officer went with me to pay the tax. We came back, picked up the papers and went to customs.

I was advised to expect 45 minutes in customs, doing what I am not sure. The police and the Delta rep went to customs and managed to get me totally around the line. This ended up saving a lot of time. I had to sign some papers at customs that I have never signed before in roughly 15 trips to Argentina. I was done, sort of.

We were taken off property about 3 miles to catch the charter plane, another new requirement. This takes time.

Honestly, the return had several new steps. From the minute I set foot in the airport until the minute I cleared immigration was about 50 minutes. That isn't bad in my book. Basically, I had to :

1- Check in with Delta.
2- Delta went with me to RENAR.
3- We then went to customs (totally new).
4- Back to Delta for the remainder of check in.
5- Back through customs
6- Back through immigration (where they took my only copy of the RENAR forms)

I was done.

Is it annoying? Yes. Is a lot of it stupid? Yes. Is it insurmountable? Not at all. I would far rather do this than shoot someone else s guns.

Larry:

Was told recently that single and / or double barrel shotguns are exempt from the consulate letter BS. But I'm guessing one would still have to go through the other stuff at EZE.

I can see that the airlines might weary of this pretty soon, since it requires their personnel to participate in the process. That could be a problem for them, depending on how many passengers with guns they have on a given flight.

Let's just hope things smooth out over time.

BTW....anything different upon your return to your US point of arrival? I'm wondering what impact the Ft. Lauderdale incident may have, if any.

Tom:

I have heard the same thing about the single barrel/double barrel guns. I have not tried it myself. I do not know.

I did not notice anything different in the US (Atlanta). The agent did have some entertaining stories about gun cases and airlines. As far as changes, I have to say they are not paying any additional attention. My guns came off with the golf clubs.

We were taken off property about 3 miles to catch the charter plane, another new requirement. This takes time.(quote)

Did this have anything to do with traveling with guns? So you cant charter from EZE?

All charters are now required to go to the FBO terminal. Charters still fly out of EZE. However, they must leave from a different area than in the past. It is pretty much impossible to walk there with bags.

FWIW, here's some recent "intel", albeit anecdotal, yet directly from Argentine vendors @ SCI:

The original outrage over this issue by the Argentine hunting industry that occurred when these regs began to be enforced has subsided.

Outfitters were first told by their new government that some adjustments would be forthcoming. With time, however, those adjustments have not come, and both the industry and the government have allowed the issue to wane.

"Some airlines" may have quietly supported the government's position.

Client feedback had no impact.

Gun rental fees that used to be in the $50 / $65 per day range, are now approaching $100, and more, per day. ( Which indicates to me there will be even less interest by the outfitters to change the policy.)

A client can bring up to 2 breech-loading single or double barreled guns without going through the consulate letter process, but----there is some discussion about raising the license fee per gun to a level equal to what one might pay if renting guns. Coincidence? You decide.

We now have....the new normal.

Major takeaways......if you want to take your own guns, deal with the regs, or pay the rental fees and take your chances with POS guns.

Survey sample: 10 Argentine outfitters @ SCI 2017.

New profit center. Great.

the true is that the outfitters wants to RENT their own shotguns ,its part of the business ...new goverment is pro gun very easy to temporary import shotguns ,licenses ,you can buy as many guns as you want etc ..

Does anyone have any recent news or experiences on this. I discussed with Larry but he has not been back since January 2017. I need to know if we need letters for over/unders and do we still need the person in Argentina to be our "warrantor". this is ridiculous and shows you what laws can be made with people that do not understand or have laws supporting gun ownership. Thanks for any help.

Been going each year for years. Not much has changed since they began to enforce these regs. Leaving in June and just had this conversation with my outfitter.

Consulate letters are not needed for O/Us, just for auto loaders. The clearing process in BA is a long one, requiring two stops, one with the cops inside the arrival area, and one with customs as you leave. Both are time consuming and conflicting. The process in Cordoba is less of a hassle, taking little time compared to BA. No one seems to be able to explain why.

Although I hate to, I have been using rental guns since things changed only because I simply don't want to go through the hassle. Most camp guns, even the better ones, are beat to shit. I've seen some terrible guns in camp. Using them takes much of the fun out of the shooting, especially the perdiz hunts, where I think we all enjoy using a fine field gun of our choice.

Anyway........after several years of this, I've come to believe the outfitters are, in fact, quietly supporting this system. After all, they are gaining an additional 65 / 75 dollars per day, per hunter on top of the regular daily rates by renting guns. They may tell clients otherwise, but in the end, they're making more money, spending less time at the airport, and going about things more smoothly than to have to accommodate a party of clients with multiple guns. The whole thing is easier for them.

We can only hope that things will change, but as I said, with the tacit support of the outfitters, I doubt they will. Let us know what you decide and what happens.

Best.......