The Second Amendment protects your right to own and carry a firearm. However, flying with a gun is a totally different story. You just cannot throw a gun into your carry-on bag like any other device and hop into a flight.

Flying with a gun does not have to be a daunting undertaking. Here is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) guideline on how you can legally fly with your firearm.

The legal requirements for boarding a plane with a firearm

In a world where you cannot carry your snow globes, pocket knives or even gel insoles in your carry-on bag, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you have to follow strict rules when traveling with your firearm. Here are the legal requirements you have to meet before traveling with your gun:

• You must declare any firearms you have on your person before you attempt to board.
• You must unload and lock the firearm in a hard-sided container for transportation as checked baggage only. The same applies to components like bolts, magazines and firing pins. In other words, you cannot fly with your gun or its components in a carry-on bag. The key or the combination lock must be retained by the passenger.
• Any ammunition you are traveling with cannot weigh more than 11 pounds and must be contained in its original packaging or kept in a secure contained designed for transporting ammunition.

If you try to sneak a gun on board a plane because you forgot to check the rules in advance, you can end up facing serious criminal charges -- with major consequences for your life. If you made a mistake, find out more about your defense options.