I bought a gas pistol in Taiwan. Checked it in at the ticket counter... guy said it was okay and put it back in my luggage.
During my layover in HK I got called into my gate area, 2 military police with sub machine guns escorted my down the walkway, down some stairs and into a small van where they had my luggage and more people with machine guns. They asked me what i was doing with a gun, and had an X-RAY of my luggage showing the gun in it(VERY REALISTIC). I told them that it was just a toy, they went through my luggage, examined my airsoft gun, then let me repackage me luggage, without the gun.
THey put the gun back into the box and into a plastic bag to give to customs. I was able to pick it up from customs at LAX. SOo here i was in LA airport walking around with a gun in its packaging inside a bag. I needed to Fly to san diego, so i asked a guy at the ticket counter what to do to take it home with me. They tried to fit it inside one of their boxes but it wouldnt fit. So I they made me buy a gun case from them... $50.