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> Plus, if you use a real lock, they have the right to clip it off, which is trivial.

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.

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I did not understand, what is a "stripped AR lower"?

And why is TSA not allowed to open it?

Edit: I guess AR is Assault Rifle?

In the US (not sure about your location or the laws in other countries), the part of an AR-15 that qualifies as the "firearm" in the eyes of the law is the lower receiver. It's a machined block of metal and does not do anything on its own.

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".

thanks for the explanation. I am not living in US, so not very familiar.

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