Thought For The Day - What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous. - Thomas Merton

A solution for traveling with expensive camera equipment or maybe those boat parts that you don't want the airlines to lose - put a firearm in the same case with the items. You have to declare the firearm, of course, but once that's done and the TSA has relocked the case, your bag is doubly scrutinized to make sure it doesn't get lost. Stay safe.