Guns Will Be Allowed On Amtrak Trains
Passenger guns will soon be aboard some Amtrak trains. The decades-long ban will be lifted mid-December, allowing firearms in locked train compartments.
Andrea Fujii explains not all passengers are excited about the idea.
Starting Dec. 15, Amtrak passengers can bring unloaded guns on board.
The change was enacted by Congress last year. It brings Amtrak's firearm policy in line with air travel restrictions, but there are strict rules.
Passengers must notify Amtrak 24 hours in advance, fill out a declaration form and guns must be unloaded and in locked hard-sided containers.
Guns can only be carried aboard trains that allow checked baggage, like Baltimore's Penn Station, but not all have the service.
Amtrak has spent $2 million to install secure storage with 142 modified baggage cars to carry the guns.
Passengers have mixed feelings about the new rules.
"If they're in locked cases, like stored where people can't access them, then it's fine," said Chelsea Leonard, passenger.
"I don't think we need to have more guns than we already have," said James Ramsey, passenger.
Despite assurances from the Transportation Safety Administration some are still leery.
"There's no way, I guess, they can prevent anything from happening. I mean if somebody wanted to make something happen they can make it happen," said Douglas Walker, passenger.
Amtrak's current policy prohibits passengers from travelling with firearms. Gun rights advocates lobbied for the change.
