.jpg "When hunting abroad, sifting through paperwork and complex rules beforehand can make the difference between the hunt of a lifetime and getting stuck in red tape.")
The best, most exotic trophies always seem to be found in remote locations. Thousands of American hunters collectively spend millions of dollars annually on out-of-state or international hunting adventures, not to mention the equipment needed to collect that trophy of a lifetime. Sadly, too many hunts are foiled by one especially cumbersome piece of equipment that many hunters fail to master—the paperwork needed to transport firearms in and out of the country or across state lines.
Looking at international travel first, the one form that every hunter needs is the U.S. Customs Form 4457. Officially titled, “Certificate of Registration for Personal Effects Taken Abroad,” this 5 ½” x 4 ¼” form is absolutely required to bring your firearms home and is also mandated at many foreign ports of entry. The forms are available at any U.S. Customs office and are good for as long as you own the firearms listed. You only need to provide the make, model and serial number of each firearm and can list more than one gun on a form. However, you must take the unloaded firearms you want to transport to the Customs office, and the customs officer needs to review and/or record the information and stamp and sign the form to certify it.
How critical is this little form? Returning from my first safari, the airline managed to leave my guns in Johannesburg overnight, shipping them back to Kennedy Airport a day after I returned to the United States. Upon arriving at Kennedy, the airline directed me to the U.S. Customs office, where the guns were being held. I brought all kinds of proof confirming ownership of the guns, including bills of sale and entry permits for South Africa and Zimbabwe. When I stepped up to the counter, the customs officer asked for my baggage claim and my 4457. At that time, I had no idea that a 4457 existed. The customs officer wouldn’t accept any other paperwork and proceeded to call Washington! During the one-hour ordeal, I heard him use words like “confiscate,” “detain” and “arrest.” It seemed like I was not only going to lose my two rifles and my fine Greener shotgun, but I was headed to jail as well.
Finally, I was able to convince the gentleman that the guns were indeed mine, and that I was not a threat to society. At the end of our conversation, he gave me several blank 4457 forms and sternly told me to get them filled out and not to make the same mistake again. Today, anything I even think I might take out of the country is documented on a 4457.
Getting into other countries also requires paperwork. Some countries, such as Canada, have the process down pat. The Canadian CAFC 909 form is available online, is easy to complete, and comes with detailed instructions in both English and French. It saves time to get the form off the web (search for CAFC 909) and fill it out ahead of time, as it does ask for specifics regarding the firearms you are bringing into the country. You’ll also have to pay the non-resident firearms fee ($25 – credit card preferred) upon entry. Keep the form with you, as it is your proof of legal importation of the firearm into Canada. Note also that if you work with an outfitter, such as Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures, they will ask what firearms you are planning to bring into Canada as part of the booking paperwork. A Canadian Customs officer will check you against a list and mark off your number as part of your entry process.
Going to the Kamchatka Peninsula for giant brown bears? Congratulations! Your outfitter should have asked for the make, model, caliber and serial number of your rifle, and also should have applied for the permits. However, once the application is submitted, substituting another rifle is very difficult, as the permits are issued to the group of hunters in the camp. The paperwork won’t look like much (mine was printed in “mice type”), but you really don’t want to lose it.
Then there is the South African SAPS 520 form, known as the “Application for Multiple Import or Export Permit/ Permanent Import or Export Permit/Temporary Import or Export Permit/In-Transit Permit for Personal Use,” which is also available online. It is eight pages long and is used for the commercial and personal transport of firearms. You should print a copy of the form, read it all the way through, and call your outfitter if you have any questions. Not having it filled out properly can cost you hours in line, with the potential of missing your connecting flight if you’re not hunting in South Africa. You need the form even if you are just taking luggage off of one carrier and on to another. (Note that in Africa, trusting that your firearms will be transferred between carriers is a gamble at best.) You will also need your U.S. 4457. I know of one sportsman who didn’t have one, and he spent two days in Johannesburg waiting for faxed paperwork from the U.S. If not for a sympathetic home police department and an involved firearms dealer who sold him the rifles, he probably would have lost his rifles altogether.
However, you’re not done quite yet. After entering South Africa, or most other African nations, you’ll need to fill out a form that gets completed in triplicate, which details the firearms you’ll be using. Once completed, the customs and immigration officer keeps the top copy, and you get to retain the two carbons. Don’t lose them! They are your permits to transport your firearms while you are hunting and are required to exit the country you’re visiting. Upon leaving, a customs official will take one copy and compare the descriptions and serial numbers on the forms with the guns in your case. All the information must match, or you’ve got real problems. Seems like the governments frown on hunters leaving or trading rifles with their PH.
One other key point that you need to know when traveling is what types of firearms are allowed, and what types are prohibited in your destination country. For example, both Canada and South Africa frown on handguns. You can get an exemption in Canada for hunting handguns if you apply for it well in advance. Semi-automatic shotguns and handguns are not permitted in South Africa, unless you submit a letter of intent stating the handgun or semi-auto shotgun will be used for hunting purposes only, and even then permission can be denied. On my last safari, the guy in front of me had his Remington 1100 confiscated and held until he returned home. I never learned if he actually got it back.
However, you don’t need to leave the United States to run into paperwork problems. For example, if you want to hunt in Hawaii, you need to have your original hunter’s safety course card or certificate with you, and it helps to send it ahead of your arrival so your outfitter can secure a license or permit. The same holds true in Colorado. Without your original hunter’s safety course card, you’re not hunting. Furthermore, when you arrive in Hawaii, you have 72 hours to register your hunting firearms with the police in the city in which you land.
Driving across state lines has its paperwork problems as well. For example, if you’re driving through Massachusetts, to a hunting camp in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine or maybe New Brunswick, Canada, you need to have a valid hunting license in your destination state and the paperwork that shows you can legally own a firearm in your home state. Not having the right documentation could find you in a police station applying for a temporary Massachusetts permit. A good friend of mine was driving his SUV through Massachusetts to join a deer hunt in Vermont and was pulled over outside of Springfield. The policeman noticed the gun case and asked for my friend’s Firearms ID card. Not having it nearly cost him another ticket and a court appearance. Luckily, he had his non-resident Vermont hunting license.
All that said, you don’t have to leave home to run into rules regarding the transportation of firearms. In Massachusetts, firearms and ammunition must be secured in a locked container or locked in a trunk when going to and from hunting areas. That means that a single shotgun shell in a coat pocket could cause problems. In my home state of New Jersey, there is a law that requires anyone transporting a firearm to go directly between home and the area of use and home again. I don’t know of anyone who has been arrested for stopping for gas on the way to a hunt, but technically it could happen.
In the end, although burdensome and often confounding, it pays to carry too much paper. I carry my Firearms ID card with me at all times, and my handgun permits whenever I am going to and from the range. When I fly with firearms at any time, even domestically, I carry the appropriate 4457 form, just in case I need to explain to a TSA inspector that the guns are really mine. I check local firearm laws by doing a little web research, which can me save hours of agony explaining why I didn’t have a locked case or trigger lock, or why the shotgun wasn’t broken down, or why the bolt wasn’t out of the rifle. I’d much rather spend my time in camp, or in a deer stand or leopard blind, than standing in front of a judge explaining why I didn’t have the required form that was the one really critical piece of equipment that I needed.
Editor’s Note: For more information on the various rules of interstate firearms transportation, read the NRA’s “Guide to the Interstate Transportation of Firearms” or visit NRA-ILA’s state gun laws page.
