Amtrak Gun Policy Draws Union Opposition
Published on November 5, 2026. The Transport Workers Union, which represents 360 Amtrak onboard service workers, is opposing a policy that would let passengers take firearms to their seats in personal lockboxes beginning in January 2027. The change would extend the practice to about 1,500 additional trains each day nationwide, including services on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, New York and Boston.
Under the planned process, passengers would hand firearm cases to a station employee, who would fasten an Amtrak-owned combination lock. Passengers would carry the locked cases aboard, and an agent at their destination would remove the lock.
TWU International Rail Division Director John Feltz said firearms should not be allowed in passenger cars, where travelers share confined spaces. The union also warned that a defective case or someone forcing a lockbox open could put passengers and train workers at risk. It said some stations lack Amtrak staff or law-enforcement personnel who could respond if a problem arose.
Amtrak currently permits firearms on a few dozen long-distance trains, but they must be stored in secure baggage cars. The new arrangement would allow passengers to keep them near their seats. The union urged the federal government to reverse the change, which it said reflects the administration’s push to relax rules on carrying weapons. Amtrak had not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Amtrak’s Gun Plan Puts Train Passengers at Risk
Published on November 5, 2026. Amtrak’s planned January 2027 policy would move firearms out of protected luggage compartments and onto passenger trains, where riders could carry locked cases to their seats. The Transport Workers Union, representing 360 onboard service workers, says the change risks the safety of both workers and passengers.
Under the plan, a station agent would fasten an Amtrak-owned combination lock to a gun case before the passenger boards. An agent at the destination would remove it. The policy would cover about 1,500 additional trains daily, including the Northeast Corridor linking Washington, New York and Boston.
The union warns that a faulty case or someone forcing a lockbox open could expose a weapon in a confined passenger car. It also says many stations lack Amtrak staff or law enforcement to respond if something goes wrong. Those are practical security concerns, not an abstract debate over gun rules.
Amtrak already allows firearms on a few dozen long-distance services, with the weapons kept in protected baggage compartments. The new policy would put them within passengers’ reach on more services. The union says the change reflects the administration’s push to relax rules on carrying weapons and is urging the federal government to reverse course. Amtrak had not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Union Seeks to Block Amtrak’s Firearm Transport Policy
Published on November 5, 2026. The Transport Workers Union is urging the federal government to stop Amtrak from allowing passengers to carry firearms in locked cases on trains, a policy scheduled to begin in January 2027. The plan would extend the option to about 1,500 additional trains each day across the country.
Passengers would present gun cases to a station agent for an Amtrak-owned combination lock, then carry the cases aboard and have the lock removed at their destination. The change would include the Northeast Corridor, with routes between Washington, New York and Boston.
The union argues that a case could fail or someone could force it open, putting workers and riders at risk in confined passenger cars. It also points to stations without Amtrak staff or law-enforcement presence. Those concerns deserve attention, but the union’s opposition would preserve limits on how passengers transport firearms rather than resolve them.
Amtrak already permits guns on a few dozen long-distance trains, where they are kept in protected baggage compartments. The new policy would allow passengers to keep locked cases near their seats on additional services. The policy follows calls from the administration to relax rules on carrying weapons. Amtrak had not immediately responded to a request for comment.
Reported by The Guardian US, ABC7 New York.
