WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, today praised the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for correcting guidelines regarding commercial air travel with large caliber ammunition used for big game hunting.  Last December, Rehberg contacted then TSA Administrator Kip Hawley requesting changes to this burdensome regulation.

“This is great news for Montana’s destination big game hunters,” said Rehberg a member of the House Appropriation Committee and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus.  “We need to keep our airplanes safe, but this overly restrictive ban on traveling with large caliber ammunition was stopping hunting trips at the gate.  I’m proud I was able to resolve this problem.”

The issue stemmed from a disparity between the TSA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ammunition-related regulations that resulted in a TSA ban of all ammunition larger than .50 caliber even though FAA deemed such ammunition safe to carry.  The Department of Transportation’s website has corrected the problem to reflect the new ammunition size limit of .75 caliber.  Although the policy has been changed, it’s recommended that hunters who are carrying large caliber ammunition print a copy of the regulation off of the website and carry it with them when traveling: http://safetravel.dot.gov/index_ammunition.html

“Big game hunting can be challenging enough,” said Rehberg.  “But a story about the one that got away should never start with the phrase, ‘So I was checking my luggage at the airport…’.”

The original release and the text of the letter can be found here: http://rightmontana.com/dennyrehberg/2008/12/19/663/