Perspective, Guns, Flying and America

So, I was 26 and was making my first big move, from Pittsburgh, PA to Phoenix, AZ.  It was February, 1979 and it was 40 below with the wind chill.   It was 80 degrees in Phoenix when I got there 4.5 hours later.

I had sold all of my meager belongings, except for a couple items and was going all in on a new start in Phoenix.  I was renting an apartment with a couple friends and was hauling about 1200 in cash, and my Dan Wesson 357 magnum in its case on the flight with me.

I had everything in a small carry on hard shell luggage bag.  My folks were with me at the airport, they drove me, and were seeing me off.  Security was nothing in 1979 like it is now.

So, I get to the gate, and this is where they are scanning stuff on the belt scanner thing.  The person acting as security is one of the stewardesses on the flight I would be on.    The best I remember it.  I was thinking about a lot of things and the details at this stage are a little fuzzy.  I do remember the stewardess and some sort of security process because she asked me if I had anything in my carry on bag that I should tell them about.   I said Yes, I have a gun.  She gets an excited look on her face and asks if I will follow her with my bag to this smallish room just off the gate boarding area that had a glass window into the boarding area.  The rest of this I remember quite well, because now I had to focus on something.

Post haste a Pennsylvania State Trooper comes into the room.  This was security at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport apparently in 1979.  More than 1 trooper for the airport of course.

So, it's me,  the 'security' stewardess who would also be on the flight, and a Pennsylvania State Trooper. 

The trooper asked me if I'll open the bag - a small suitcase - which I do, revealing a wooden case with the Dan Wesson 357 kit inside.  The kit, unlike the best match picture I could find below, had only two barrels, a 6 inch and a 3 inch (the two barrels in the middle) but with the same two grips pictured.  A real Dirty Harry pistol.

It looked kind of like something a hit man would carry I guess, though I hadn't thought that at the time.   I was kind of self-absorbed and not really thinking in terms of how others might take me..

At this point the stewardess is visibly beside herself. She got one of those "Oh no you don't" looks on her face and pirouetted away, then tuning back with hands on hips asking if he's going to let me on with this thing and such. He had the last word apparently.

He asks me if it's loaded, I say "No, but there are a box of 50 bullets also" pointing to them under some socks.  hahahaa   He takes it out and checks that it is not loaded, holds it up and says Nice Gun!. I say "Thanks!"  He asks "Hows it shoot?"  I replied that I could hit a 5 gallon can at 100 yds with it.  He smiles and says "Nice."  The stewardess has this look of disbelief on her face.

He wants to know what I'm doing with it on the plane, and I say I'm moving one way to Phoenix and just want to take it with me and didn't trust sending it UPS.    He asks "Do you mind if we store this luggage up front by the cockpit?"    I say Not at all, long as it gets there is all I'm interested in.

He puts the gun back, closes up the luggage and hands it to the stewardess and says go ahead and put this in the storage by the cockpit.  It was the Last thing she wanted to do, but again, he apparently had the last word. What a hoot.

It is a very empty airplane, maybe 30% full and there is actually no one sitting in front of where I'm sitting.  Maybe the stewardesses arranged for this while I was looking around at plane stuff not paying much attention to the boarding process.

So, we take off, and another stewardess, a very good looking one, comes back into economy where I'm at and sits on the armrest of the seat in front of my seat and talked to me the entire flight.  It was my first flight, and I was a young hick from Pittsburgh and figured they did this kind of stuff all the time. 

In hindsight, this was obviously the Stewardess' security plan. Keep a close eye on me !

What a hoot. Contrast that to today or even 20 years ago. Wow are we in such a different country.