Hi

Anyone have info on flying from Canada to Africa or anywhere for that matter with a stop over in the US where your gun is checked threw so that you don't take possesion of it ??
Even if you could give me a contact in the US to start my search?
THANKS

If the guns are checked all the way to the final destination AND you are not taking possession of your baggage in the US AND you are not clearing US immigration, I cannot imaging that there would be any problem whatsoever.

Why take any chances with the TSA? Kathi Klimes arranged an itinerary for me that took me from Toronto to Frankfurt via Lufthansa, then on to Windhoek with Air Namibia. The trip went without any hitches. On the way home, doing the same route in reverse, my gun case disappeared, but was delivered to my door within 24 hours of my arrival at home.

Kathi (Wild Travel) was the only specialty agent I could find who would handle a Canadian departing from a non-USA airport.

John

As far as I know, it is not feasible to pass through the US with a checked firearm. Going through the US may be legally possible, but the last I heard, it was impossible in practical terms. Travelling to the US with a firearm if you have a valid hunting license in the US is a different story. I'd avoid the US entirely and Air Canada if you can.

BA is operating flights out of a number of Canadian cities to London, then on to African hunting destinations. BA was bad a few years ago, but have cleaned up their act. Transporting a firearm through London (without taking possession of it) is simple. The formalities can be taken care of with a phone call.

Dean

The only thing you need to be cautious of when going through the UK is if you arrive at one airport and depart from another. The most common by far is in at LGW (London Gatwick) and out of LHR (London Heathrow) or vice versa.

When this happens, you need to use a licenced firearms courier to do the transfer for you. It's not overly expensive and works well.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
Kathi (Wild Travel) was the only specialty agent I could find who would handle a Canadian departing from a non-USA airport.

John

That's because Gracy Travel supremely fucked up when they booked my trip last year (and refused to compensate me for it), and AFAIK, no longer provide service to Canadians.

Chopper12,

Do avoid the US with your guns. Fly from Canada to Africa via the UK or Europe. It is not a problem. I prefer to travel via the UK and recommend it to my clients. BA has the best record in the industry of delivering you, your guns and luggage to Africa all at the same time.

Mark

I am really surprised at the apparent difficulty for a Canadian to transit through the US with a gun en route to Africa. Maybe I'm naive, but I did not imagine there would be this kind of difficulty. Why is this so? 9-11? Or has it always been trouble?

Will, when flying into the US, I always hear something to the effect of "all passengers must claim their luggage and go thru US Customs regardless if you are flying to another country destination"...if this is the same for flights from Canada, this would seem to elliminate the option of checking the bags thru. Maybe?

OK Chopper-
I live near toronto and have flown to africa 3 times with my guns. All three times I went thru the states. I figure I probably save about a $1000 each time I fly thru the states compared to booking canadian flights- gotta love our tax system
If you want to possess a gun in the united states the form you need is the 6NIA- this is available here:
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/form6nia/
The instructions on how to fill out are there as well. It is really quite simple- first you need to get a hunting license from somewhere in the united states. michigan has one for hunting bird preserves that costs $15 and you can buy and print it online. You then fill out the 6NIA form with all pertinant information and fax it to BATF- the # is on the form. In a few weeks (assuming you pass whatever scrutiny the BATF has to do) they will fax it back to you with a signature and an approval stamp- you are then entitled to have whichever guns you put on the form in your possession in the USA. The Permit is valid for one year and you are allowed to have more than one gun per permit, and more than one permit - for instance you could have your african guns on one permit and if you decide to go to alaska later on in the same year you could apply for another permit for some different guns to take there.

On all my trips in/out of the USA it has been a relatively painless procedure- I make sure to have my form 6NIA readily available, along with all my canadian registration info, firearms license etc.. and usually once a cusoms agent looks thru the paperwotk they just wave me thru without even wanting to open the guncase, sometimes if the agent is gung-ho they want to see the serial # on the gun itself.

If you had any other questions please feel free to PM me and I could give you my phone # and I could give you a hand any way I can.

Good Luck
Dan

Will- the problem is definately only post 9-11
I'm not exactly sure when they instituted the 6NIA but I think it was about 5 years ago, prior to that I used to cross the border both ways with no issues/paperwork at all. Usually the customs officer would just ask what I was up to and wave us thru once we said moose/deer/bear hunting. No ID check no anything, it sure was nice in the good old days (5 yrs ago )

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quote:

Originally posted by WannabeBwana:

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
Kathi (Wild Travel) was the only specialty agent I could find who would handle a Canadian departing from a non-USA airport.

John

That's because Gracy Travel supremely fucked up when they booked my trip last year (and refused to compensate me for it), and AFAIK, no longer provide service to Canadians.

{



And that probably explains (but does not excuse) the fact that they did not even bother to reply to any of my several emails to them when I was in the planning stages of that trip.

]

If you fly BA don't forget they require 72 hours notice that you're travelling with firearms and that they're sensitive about ex military calibres.

This might be of interest: http://www.shakariconnection.c...l-with-firearms.html

In September I flew from Toronto to London to Frankfurt to Windhoek with a 5 day stopover in London on my way to Windhoek. Richard Whitely (the Gunrunner) who is a licensed firearms courier held my gun and ammo for me while in London. Richard then helped me check my gun and ammo on the London to Frankfurt flight. Everything went smoothly.
You have to get a certificate from Germany to legally have possession of your gun and ammo while you are in Germany. It can easily be done by e-mail by contacting the Frankfurt police.
In Namibia you simply fill out a firearms import form at the airport.
On the way back I flew Windhoek to Frankfurt to Toronto.
I had absolutely no problems whatsoever either coming or going.
You simply have to plan in advance and make sure you have the necessary paperwork and have notified all airlines at least 72 hours in advance that you are flying with a firearm and ammunition.
If I were to do it all over again, I would fly Toronto to Frankfurt to Windhoek and avoid London altogether.
Germany is much more tolerant of people traveling with firearms than the UK.

chopper12,there is no problem in doing so.I spoke with an ATF supervisor over the phone before flying. All that is required,and you probably will not be asked for it ,is your flight itinerary and safari invitation.Piece of cake.One thing that was new to me was that I had to clear US customs in the Montreal airport before boarding the plane for Dulles.I hope to take the Montreal-Dulles-Africa route again on my next trip.I think it's best to go on the flight over ,tired from work,that way you will look forward to hours of sitting and relaxing and when you get there,you will feel great.