The Fight Against Crime: Notes From The Front : Guns OK on Planes if Rules Are Followed

Besides fame and fortune, what do actors Martin Lawrence and Christian Slater have in common with rock star Eddie Van Halen and crooner Harry Connick Jr.?

All belong to a growing group of celebrities who have been busted in airports for packing heat.

Lawrence was arrested last Wednesday on suspicion of carrying a loaded gun in a suitcase at Burbank Airport, where he was trying to catch a flight to Phoenix.

Van Halen, of Studio City, was nabbed last year for carrying a .25-caliber semiautomatic Beretta into the same airport.

On both occasions, routine security X-ray machines detected the guns in the celebrities’ luggage.

What they should have known: Even with the new security crackdown at airports to prevent terrorism, it’s perfectly legal to carry a gun with you on an airline trip--if you follow the rules, airline officials say.

First off, passengers should never try to carry a gun aboard a plane themselves, or show up at the security checkpoint with one. Those who do may miss their flight and be subject to a civil penalty of $10,000, according to Tim Pile, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. If convicted on criminal charges, there is a potential prison term.

But it’s legal to carry an unloaded gun in locked, checked baggage, if passengers follow FAA rules that apply to all passengers, plus regulations imposed by individual air carriers.

Passengers flying Southwest Airlines, for example, must declare they are flying with a firearm, which must be unloaded and checked in locked baggage, according to Linda Rutherford, a Southwest spokeswoman. An airline employee must inspect the weapon to ensure it is unloaded.

A warning the airlines give: Call ahead to check the rules on the specific airline and notify the airline that there will be a gun in the baggage. Take the trouble to make sure that gun-carrying luggage meets the airline’s specifications and allow plenty of time to go through any special inspection by airline security employees.

Rifles and shotguns must be enclosed in a container specially designed for gun transport, Rutherford said.

Ammunition can also be transported in checked baggage as long as it is not loaded in a weapon and is in a container that meets regulations.

“Obviously it’s all part of the safety and security measures in place to make flying safe,” Rutherford said.

Even those with a police permit to carry a concealed pistol are subject to the rules every other civilian passenger must follow, Pile said--no weapons in the passenger compartment.

The only exception on Southwest flights is for law enforcement officers with proper identification, who can keep their guns with them, Rutherford added. Alaska Airlines, however, prohibits even peace officers from carrying a firearm aboard unless they can demonstrate a specific need, a spokesman said.

Southwest Airlines won’t accept guns as unaccompanied cargo; Alaska will, but only if the owner is shipping it to himself.

Those caught violating the rules better be ready to explain to a judge, as Lawrence is scheduled to do in Burbank Municipal Court on Monday.

Airport authorities said Lawrence told them that “he thought it was OK to carry [the gun] on the plane if he was going out of state.” But the actor’s publicist later said that Lawrence did not know the weapon was in the suitcase.

Van Halen pleaded no contest last year and got a year’s probation and a $910 fine.