And our (USA) law enforcement agencies promise us that any encryption master keys required by their grandiose plans will only be used in cases with proper legal court warrants (ignore the FISA court warrant abuse based on lies and deceit) and will be super secure and never stolen.
Just like those secret hacking tools stolen from the CIA.
Or these private master keys.
I understand that the illusion of control is very helpful for nervous passengers, but your luggage is leaving your control and it's mostly nylon fabric and plastic.
Also I think they used these locks on handgun / firearm containers that were declared when travelers with a CPL or LEO people traveled. Those are typically put into a hard container that is difficult to open unless you unlock the lock.
EDIT: last paragraph is wrong, please ignore that. Thanks guys.
I am not the one missing the forest for the trees.
It has always been security theater. From day 1. What's most galling is that quite a lot of the people participating here are young enough that they don't remember a time before the theater. If you are under 30 your first plane flight you can remember is probably after this all started.
Locks are mechanical, and a master key can be built by taking apart a lock and measuring the innards. In some cases you can create a master key by filing down the right teeth on a key you already have. Master keys in apartment buildings are an old, known problem to competitive lockpickers.
As other people are pointing out elsewhere in this thread, carrying a firearm requires that you use a lock-lock, not a TSA "lock".
Deviant Ollam gave an (in)famous talk [2] about this at Defcon.
[1]: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunit...
"Only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock unless TSA personnel request the key to open the firearm container to ensure compliance with TSA regulations. You may use any brand or type of lock to secure your firearm case, including TSA-recognized locks."
If you use a TSA lock, that means they have a key to open up the case and access the firearm without you around. That's a big no-no and could result in problems with the law.
You'd also probably want to show up an extra hour early because this could cause long delays. Some airports are notorious for workers who don't know the regulations, don't want to be responsible for any of it, and will refuse to do anything to help you resolve the situation. Also, definitely don't try this if you're flying through New York or New Jersey.
What’s important is that you don’t have to use a TSA lock. You just have to open it for them if they ask.
> Also, definitely don't try this if you're flying through New York or New Jersey.
Why?
However, the TSA agents in NY do not recognize my MI CPL. As a result when I fly back from NY to MI, I could get arrested for carrying a firearm.
More on this here: https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/01/18/colorado-woman-decl...
To be clear, this rule can be triggered by a flare gun or starting pistol. Traveling with those seems perfectly reasonable and I don't see why a CPL would be required.
Why? If a TSA person unlocks it in accordance with their procedures, surely that's fine (and is what they would do anyway, just getting the key from you first)? If a TSA person abuses their position to open your luggage with their master key against their procedures, surely that's not your problem - more akin to a criminal breaking open your luggage than anything else.
TSA's procedures are as robust as a high school recital of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The TSA knows this and so when it matters (like when firearms are involved) the rules change.
Most high security locks can be re-keyed. There's no need for it to be keyed to any existing master. I consider that better than "one of these 6 predefined TSA keys that can be 3d printed oh and also it is labelled."
Nor does the threat model of "dedicated attacker" make a lot of sense. If that is your constraint then flying with complete guns is probably not for you.
There are easier ways for criminals to get guns than a mole in the TSA or baggage handling. Like, stores. A decent padlock can secure a gun case beyond the "crime of opportunity" level required for protection in a secured environment like an airport.
If you're really paranoid you can even build in trap pins so attempting picking or using the wrong key can permanently bind the lock. The point is you are in full control of the lock and don't have a government mandated, well understood backdoor included.
Finally, all of this misses the point which is that you can put a firearm such as a starting pistol, flare gun, frame or lower [1] in your luggage and use whatever lock you want. This means you can protect the rest of your stuff from getting swiped by TSA or baggage handlers.
[1]: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/firearms-guides-importation-ver...
I'm not sure, those are not my words. Ask swimfar.
It strikes me as simply irresponsible gun ownership although I'm not sure what legal liability that may open you up to.
Again, the point of bringing this up is that you can decide to use an actual secure lock to protect your property if you just put a "firearm" in your luggage. It's not actually about firearms at all. It's about protecting yourself from an obviously broken and exploitable government backdoor.
They let the Washington Post take high-res pictures of the masters while supporting them doing a story about the TSA and those got published which was enough to decode the keys.
The TSA is a lot more likely to steal your stuff than some random person with a printed key. Plus, if you use a real lock, they have the right to clip it off, which is trivial. Don't put stuff of value into checked luggage. Keep it on your person or ship it via a carrier who has insurance.
Life hack: you can pack a stripped AR lower, and it's legally a firearm. You must use a non-TSA lock, and the TSA (nominally) is not allowed to open it.
Though your core point is valid: your nylon luggage isn't going to keep anyone determined out.
And why is TSA not allowed to open it?
Edit: I guess AR is Assault Rifle?
When transporting a firearm through air travel, it's supposed to be locked such that only the owner can open it. So you can claim you're carrying a firearm with nothing but a small-ish piece of metal in your luggage.
For illustration: https://i.imgur.com/ARZgZV6.png. The non-transparent part is the lower receiver.
As an aside, the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle (after the company that originally designed it); not "assault rifle".
But unless you travel with valuables quite often it is definitely cheaper to ship it insured.
I only flew with a stripped lower once, and the baggage attendant at the Delta counter had to wave a TSA agent over because they did not believe it was a firearm. I never had an issue checking a handgun though.
I'm glad we don't need to trust the TSA with following any kind of security protocols. /s