http://www.huntingreport.com/w...te.cfm?articleid=737



Warning to Hunters Flying Delta to South Africa

(posted July 23, 2015)

A Delta Airlines gate agent has denied boarding to a hunter traveling to South Africa for not having a firearm import permit with him. The agent insisted that the South African Police Service (SAPS) requires travelers to have an import permit issued to them 21 days prior to travel. This is incorrect, and hunters traveling with Delta need to be prepared with paperwork and information to counter this.

The SAPS official website has a page dedicated to information on the importation of firearms to the Republic of South Africa (http://www.saps.gov.za/services/flash/firearms/importation.php). Under the section "Issuing of a permit" it does state that an application should be submitted directly to the Central Firearms Control Register "at least 21 days in advance to enable the South African Police Service sufficient time to process the application and to submit the permit to the applicant to an address outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa or the nominated person." This is for those wanting to get a permit issued in advance of arrival. Just two sections later on the same page in bold letters, it states, "A temporary import permit will only be issued at the port of entry to the following persons: To a foreign visitor for the purpose of hunting."

Hunters are advised to print out a copy of the SAPS website with its URL and highlight or circle the section above. Show this to the agent at check-in and keep a copy with you. If necessary, insist a supervisor look up the website and read the page in its entirety instead of stopping at the first section about import permits. Anyone experiencing this problem is encouraged to contact The Hunting Report (305-253-5301 or editorial@huntingreport.com). Please provide the date and time this occurred, the gate number and if possible the name of the misinformed agent. - Barbara Crown, Editor-in-Chief.

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I hope they sue the hell out of that gate agent and Delta. Probably a rabid anti hunter.

Ummmm, something is not adding up here. A gate agent would not know who is a "hunter" and who is not. The only "agent" who would possibly know would be a ticket agent when you check in. Further, the ticket agent has no authority to enforce South African laws and cannot deny boarding as a result. And finally, it would be a little odd that someone who was denied boarding at the ticket counter did not immediately ask for a supervisor and get this cleared up in 10 minutes - after all, they have a few thousand dollars and a dream hunt at stake.

I fly out of Atlanta to JNB six or more times a year and have been do so (not quite as often) for over 15 years. Not once have I ever witnessed a Delta gate agent say anything more than "Have a pleasant flight".

Sorry, but something sounds a little off with this story...

I have to second what Opus1 said. A gate agent would not have even known the individual was a hunter and would have had no reason to deny boarding, especially since this would have required off load of already checked baggage.

A gate agent could deny boarding if the passenger was drunk, unruly, etc. but there definitely would have been supervisors involved in this instance, particularly on an international flight.

Another thing that doesn't add up is that this would be the Atlanta - Joberg flight which probably had several hunters on it at this time of year and the Delta staff at both ticketing and the gate would be well accustomed to people traveling with firearms.

I flew Delta last trip. Zero issues.

Well, two of the stewardesses outweighed me, and one was old enough to be my Mother...

Where they get you is when you check your rifle in at the counter. I had the same issue with the United ticket agent at SFO in 2013. Luckily I had my email on my phone and showed her where I had sent off the application more than 21 days before the trip. She and her supervisor grudgingly accepted that as proof.

It didn't stop her from trying to get me to show her my permit for transiting a firearm through London and even though I told her that no permit was required in checked through baggage, she still called Heathrow (and tried to call Johannesburg) to verify it all.

It took us about two hours to get our guns checked in.

It's the luck of the draw depending on which ticket agent that you get. Many of the people working the counter are contractor employees, not Airline employees and are incompetent. Whenever I have a gun to check I automatically ask them to get their supervisor but even that is no assurance that you will get someone competent.

I am leaving on Thursday, flying Delta all the way from Las Vegas to Joburg (connecting in Atlanta for the long haul flight over). It seems to me that I had a ticket agent here in Vegas that asked something similar to this inquiry about the SAPS application, either last year or the year before, and I merely assured her that the SAPS permit was obtained only in South Africa, and that was it-no further issue was made of it. However, I have just sent an email to Steve Turner to alert him to this issue and asked him to provide me with a copy of my SAPS application that I had Africa Sky apply for, or some other formal proof just in case. I have also printed out the SAPS website information referenced in Kathi's notice. This is something that SCI, DSC and the NRA needs to immediately jump Delta about as well. If I was denied boarding for something like this, I would sue the living shit out of Delta and the ticket agent and make believers out of the whole bunch.

Steve has just gotten back to me and assured me that this was an isolated incident with absolutely no need to worry. He stated that this was an agent who had failed to read the entire information.

I would ask for a supervisor instantly. They usually clear this nonsense up real quick.

TR

I checked in today to go to MOz. Supervisor had no idea what he was doing. He asked if I had a Moz gun permit. I told him I did in Moz and it wasn't final till I got there. They let me go. Sitting in ATL with swain creek from here on AR. They made him show proof he had a SA gun license in process 21 days in advance. Because of this thread, he did. SO this is a REAL ISSUE.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
I checked in today to go to MOz. Supervisor had no idea what he was doing. He asked if I had a Moz gun permit. I told him I did in Moz and it wasn't final till I got there. They let me go. Sitting in ATL with swain creek from here on AR. They made him show proof he had a SA gun license in process 21 days in advance. Because of this thread, he did. SO this is a REAL ISSUE.

Well, I guess we will add this to the bitch list too...
This one might actually be resolved in a timely manner.

Last fall I filled out my fire arm permit a few days before I left for RSA (multiple reschedules due to elephant permit) - went thru SAPS in 30 minutes.

nickh,
I believe Emirates won't transport these trophies now either.

This particular problem should now be resolved, if this happens again, please forward the name of the carrier and of the agent requesting the documentation via PM.