Everything else, too! I asked them about a rifle scope in my carryon. Here is their answer:


"Thank you for your e-mail.



The Transportation Security Administration's current security screening procedures require all carry-on luggage and accessible property be screened before passengers take them onboard an aircraft. Regardless of whether an item is on the prohibited or permitted items list, the Transportation Security Officers (TSO's) have discretion to prohibit an individual from carrying an item through the screening checkpoint or onboard an aircraft if the item poses a security threat.



Therefore, TSA security screening personnel make the final decision on whether to permit items into the sterile area of the airport. Should you need additional assistance, feel free to contact us at toll free 866-289-9673.



Please visit our website at www.tsa.gov for additional information about TSA. We continue to add new information and encourage you to check the website frequently for updated information.



We hope this information is helpful.



TSA Contact Center"

There's nothing so helpful as a definate "maybe" or an "ask me again later to see if I've changed my mind".

It's hard to see how TSA security personnel could construe a scope, which is basically one-half of a set of binoculars, as a hazardous object. Of course, if your spare scope is one of those 30mm tube, 56mm objective 8-32X jobs that weighs three pounds and is approximately the size and shape of an aluminum baseball bat, then I can see how carrying-on something that is more useful as a club than as an optical instrument might raise some suspicions . On the other hand, it's hard to see how your spare 1.5-5X Leupold presents a hazard to the safe operation of the flight.

I carried 2 Leupold 1.75x6's in a Pelican case as a carry-on from Anchorage to Windhoek and back and never even had it questioned. It went through the x-ray, but no one even opened the case to look at them.

I have been told that if you plan on taking a scope to someone in Africa that it is illegal. I do not understand this as how dangerous is a scope all by itself. Unless you deicde to beat someone over the head with it.

TSA has their regulations (or lack thereof) and the airlines have theirs as well. Some airlines consider scopes as "firearms parts" and may therefore require passengers to treat them as such. I believe Air France has this policy, which doesn't mean they apply it consistantly, since I have travelled with a scope in my carry-on without any comment from the staff.

I did once have TSA (at LAX) pull my scope from hand luggage and put it though some tests under a special machine, which they told me were to ascertain whether there were any traces of powder on the scope. I was perplexed and mentioned that, "It would be normal to find traces of powder on a riflescope, wouldn't it?" I never got an answer as to why they did this test.

one of the guys at work here was goose hunting in canada, they told him he couldn't take his choke tubes as carry on, and then took away a roll of duct tape because "it could be used as a restraint" then the dumb bas---ds let him on the plane, he forgot that he had a 12" knife he was using to clean geese with the night before.

Have done it a few times with no problems.