Innaugural edition of "Notes From the Field"

In this very first edition of Notes From the Field I am very happy to report that there has been a positive development on the Northwest Airlines firearms surcharge issue. A few weeks ago we learned from The Hunting Report that NW Airlines announced that they would be charging $150 per rifle each way for trans Atlantic and trans Pacific flights. This would affect many safari hunters headed to Africa. It is outrageous that they would add such a steep fare increase simply because a person was headed on an African safari. What is interesting is that they did not implement the same policy for items such as golf clubs etc.

When I heard about this I called the National Rifle Association's Manager of Hunting Policy Darren LaSorte. The NRA Institute For Legislative Action worked their magic and NW Airlines has reversed their policy and the charge has been rescinded. Not only have they waived the $150 charge, they have also waived the 62" linear inch restriction for gun cases. Most cases do not fit under that arbitrary size limitation and therefore incurred additional charges.

This is a great victory for those who travel to hunt and we are grateful to the NRA for fixing it and the Hunting Report for pointing it out.