Amtrak is moving toward letting passengers carry declared, unloaded firearms in locked cases right inside passenger cars, a shift set to begin on routes without checked-baggage service starting in January 2027. The Transport Workers Union, which represents 360 onboard service workers at Amtrak, says the plan puts both riders and crew in danger and, as part of a labor coalition, opposes extending the change to services without checked-baggage cars or a checked-baggage process.
Union Calls Plan Sheer Lunacy
According to The Guardian, TWU International Rail Division director John Feltz did not mince words about the proposal, calling it “sheer lunacy.” Feltz questioned the logic of allowing firearms into passenger cars where riders sit in close, confined quarters for hours at a time, and he compared the plan unfavorably to airline rules, which require guns to be checked with luggage and stowed away rather than kept near seated passengers.
Under the procedure described in that report, a station agent would attach an Amtrak-owned combination lock to a passenger's firearm case at departure, and a second agent would remove that lock upon arrival. The union says that process itself is the problem: a defective case or lock, or a rider who forces access to a weapon mid-trip, could put everyone aboard at risk. “Either scenario will endanger the lives of riders and our members working on trains,” the union said, per the same report.
Staffing Gaps Fuel Safety Concerns
Compounding the worry, the union notes that many Amtrak stations simply don't have Amtrak staff or law enforcement on hand, raising questions about who would actually be responsible for securing and unlocking these cases consistently along a route. The union has called on the federal government to reverse the policy outright. Amtrak did not immediately respond to The Guardian's request for comment on the criticism.
The policy traces back further than this week's headlines. A joint statement from the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, signed by TTD, BLET, SMART-TD, TCU-IAM, TWU, and UNITE HERE, says Amtrak has already been allowing passengers to bring unloaded firearms and ammunition onto the Auto Train since September 1, provided they declare the weapon at least six hours in advance, lock it in a double-locked, TSA-standard container, and keep it secured inside their own vehicle for the ride. That same statement says Amtrak intends to extend firearm carriage to all of its routes beginning January 1, 2027, and the labor coalition says it strongly opposes extending the change to services that lack checked-baggage cars or a checked-baggage process altogether.
How the New Rules Would Differ From Today's Policy
Amtrak's existing, publicly posted rules for firearms in checked baggage are narrower than what's being proposed. Under those standing rules, Amtrak only accepts firearms as checked baggage on trains that offer checked-baggage service and a ticket office, and guns may never be carried in carry-on bags under that system. Firearms must be unloaded and locked inside an approved hard-sided container, with passengers required to notify Amtrak at least six hours before travel — the same advance-notice window described for the Auto Train rollout. Currently, riders can transport guns this way on only a few dozen long-distance trains, with weapons stored in secure baggage cars rather than anywhere near seating.
The new policy would upend that separation for trains that don't have checked-baggage service at all, including the Northeast Regional and Acela. On those routes, passengers 18 and older would be permitted to carry declared, unloaded firearms and ammunition in secure, double-locked, TSA-compliant, hard-sided cases kept inaccessible during the ride itself — but stored in the passenger car rather than a separate baggage car. Service would be limited to travel between staffed stations.
Scale of the Change and the Stakes for Riders
The numbers involved are significant. The Guardian describes the expansion as reaching an additional 1,500 trains a day across the country, while SMART-TD's account of earlier Associated Press reporting put the figure at more than 1,500 trains daily, including Northeast Corridor routes it said carry roughly 750,000 passengers every day. TWU staff representative Brian Delucia cited that same approximate ridership figure for Northeast Corridor routes covered by the policy, according to The Guardian's report. SMART-TD had separately urged Amtrak to reject the broader push to loosen gun-transport rules, writing that “Amtrak needs to stand up and reject this request.”
That broader push was also the subject of earlier wire reporting. The Associated Press reported that Amtrak was weighing making it easier to bring guns on all of its trains even in the aftermath of an attack at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, underscoring how contested the issue has been well before this week's union statement.
Amtrak has said the policy aligns with Executive Order 14206, issued by President Trump in February 2025, which directed the attorney general to review federal agencies for ongoing infringements of citizens' Second Amendment rights, according to ABC7 New York. Amtrak has also said the change brings its practices in line with other national transportation carriers, including airlines, and that launching the policy as a standalone service on the Auto Train first allowed for close monitoring before any wider rollout. The carrier has said it plans to eventually allow declared, unloaded firearms on all trips between staffed stations, subject to applicable local and state laws, with existing procedures remaining in place on trains that already offer checked baggage.
For now, the Transport Workers Union — which represents some Amtrak workers nationwide — argues the plan would weaken existing security measures rather than modernize them, warning that the lockboxes at the center of the new system could be forced open by anyone determined enough to try.
