22.5.2009
Ok for hunters to bring their guns

Hunters, rifle club members and others with a valid firearms licence can take their guns with them on flights, but they must use a special procedure to check them in at the airport as baggage.

Going on a hunting trip in Scotland or a shooting competition in southern Germany? Usually, neither firearms nor ammunition are permitted at airports or on planes, but there are exceptions.

"Firearms and ammunition are no risk to flight safety as long as they are transported as checked baggage in an aircraft's cargo hold. Hunters and rifle club members can take their firearms and ammunition with them as long as they have a valid weapons licence and use a special procedure at the airport to check their equipment in as baggage, "says Johnnie Müller, head of Security at Copenhagen Airport.

No weapons through security
 Last year, security staff at Copenhagen Airport registered 6449 guns and 4.8 tonnes of ammunition checked in by passengers as legal baggage.

"Of course, no one is permitted to take any kind of weapon or ammunition through security at the airport, but hunters or rifle club members may legally take their firearms with them as checked baggage. They just have to follow the required procedures," says Thorbjørn Ancker, head of communications at the Danish Civil Aviation Authority.

In practice, passengers start by informing check-in staff that they wish to take their guns as checked baggage. Afterwards, a representative from the relevant airline and a member of the airport's security staff come to the check-in desk and take the passenger in question to an inspection room, where security personnel check to make sure that:

• the passenger has a valid gun permit, EU firearms pass, firearms declaration, export permit or ID card from the Danish police or military.
• the gun is not loaded.
• the gun has been disassembled, if possible.
• the gun and ammunition have been appropriately packed, if possible in neutral packing and in two separate packages; a maximum of 5 kg ammunition is permitted.

Weapons handed over to airline representative
After this inspection, the firearms and baggage are handed over to the airline representative, who is then in charge of monitoring the baggage, its transport to the aircraft and its being loaded into the aircraft's cargo hold.

In addition to this information, please see the provisions of Danish Ministry of Traffic Order 527 of 23 June 1995 on the transport of weapons, explosives, war equipment, munitions, etc. in civil aircraft.

Special regulations apply to police or military personnel in connection with the air transport of weapons and ammunition.