The chat about guns reminds me of an exercise in frustration that I once had attempting to get a muzzleloading .50 caliber rifle checked through airport security.

The nice lady at the desk tells me that I have to ‘open the action of the weapon and demonstrate that the gun is not loaded’.

The weapon does not have an action, it is a muzzleloader.

‘So how do I know that the gun is unloaded?’

“Well, looky here. This is the ramrod. See? Now look how the ramrod is longer than the barrel. See? Now insert the ramrod and see that the ramrod is now sitting on the bottom of the barrel and that there is no room for a powder charge, much less a bullet.”

“I ain’t touching that thing! Those are dangerous.”

“Ma’am, do you by any chance have someone who has clue how a muzzleloading firearm actually works?”

“Don’t cause any trouble, Sir, or I’ll have you arrested.”