Guns to Be Allowed on Most Amtrak Trains

Firearms control used to be the one area of public safety where trains were stricter than airplanes. Not anymore.

Starting December 15, Amtrak passengers will be allowed to bring unloaded handguns on trains with checked baggage service, the Sacramento Bee reports. Passengers must give Amtrak 24 hours notice, and pack their unloaded firearms in hard-sided containers before storing them in a locked baggage hold.

"It's deemed safe and appropriate," federal Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez told the Bee. "If people follow the rules, it's pretty simple."

Reversing the decade-old ban has been a major initiative of the powerful gun lobbying group, the National Rifle Association. The measure was pushed through Congress in a transportation funding last year.

"We worked hard for this," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the Bee. "It is reasonable for law-abiding people who wish to travel with firearms to be able to do so."

Amtrak officials told the Bee that Amtrak, a federally funded train system, is retrofitting train cars for gun storage. There are no estimates of yet as to how many people will take advantage of the changes.

Daniel Vice of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence countered that the rule change makes it easier for terrorists to bring weapons on trains with intent to do harm. He said his group and Amtrak police are pleased, however, to have won concessions requiring locked storage and 24-hour advance notice.