www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Yeah, this is true, but unlike WTM I was talking about carry-on too.

If you check a bag with a weapon inside, you don't take it through the more stringent security that passengers go through and the restrictions on what you can pack inside are considerably less restrictive. So there should be no problem with a bag with a weapon (even a declared gun) inside once it's checked inside the airport. However, those checked bags are still subject to some inspections while going through the baggage processing areas, so you should also use TSA approved locks on those bags (if you lock them up as you should) so that, should TSA choose to open your checked luggage for random inspection they can do so without having to bust open the bag. And, of course, if you carry a gun and ammo in your checked luggage and it gets through airport security, this doesn't mean that you won't have some problems getting a gun through CR customs. Like Srlim said, while flying in the US you still have to declare it when checking through something as serious as a gun. Perhaps Srilm can also clarify what documentation one needs to carry in order to bring that gun into CR (assuming a gringo can do that at all) and then what documentation one would also need to bring that gun back through US CUSTOMS as opposed to the passenger security checkpoints.

While baggage with a weapon inside (even a real serious one like a gun) is not really a problem inside the airport once its checked, a weapon inside a carry-on bag (even a small pocket knife) is certainly more of a potential issue IF they happen to find it and will probably just wind up being confiscated.