Amtrak is preparing to test lockboxes on passenger trains nationwide, a move that would allow travelers to bring firearms aboard more than 1,500 daily routes for the first time. The plan, pressed by Trump administration officials, proceeds despite the April 26 arrest of a California man who authorities say rode an Amtrak train to Washington, D.C., armed with a shotgun and pistol before trying to breach a White House Correspondents' Association dinner and exchanging fire with Secret Service.
The proposed rule change has been under development since early 2026, two people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the policy publicly. The railroad has not abandoned the proposal.
That decision comes just days after Cole Tomas Allen was arrested outside a Washington hotel ballroom. Authorities say the 27-year-old Torrance resident tried to race past security barricades. A Secret Service officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest.
He survived. Allen was armed with a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol. He brought both weapons by rail from California, investigators say.
Amtrak declined to say whether Allen followed existing rules that require passengers to declare firearms and allow the railroad to lock them in checked baggage cars. A lawyer for Allen said he has no criminal record and is presumed innocent. The policy says one thing.
The reality says another. Currently, only a couple dozen mostly long-distance trains with locked baggage cars can legally transport firearms. The new plan would add lockboxes to every train.
That opens the door for guns on routes that carry roughly 750,000 people daily through Amtrak's Northeast Corridor alone. Only the conductor would have the key, the two people told the AP. John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, condemned the timing. "Just days after a man took an Amtrak train to Washington with a shotgun and pistol and tried to assassinate the president and other federal officials, the Trump Administration is trying to open the floodgates for firearms on every Amtrak route," Feinblatt said.
He added the administration is also "moving to hollow out the agency responsible for enforcing gun laws."
"This will only make Americans less safe and Congress must step in before the next tragedy," he said. Officials at Amtrak and the Transportation Department did not immediately respond to questions about the gun policy. The current rules mirror those for commercial flights.
Passengers must declare unloaded firearms stored in hard cases. The weapons go into checked baggage. The proposed change keeps the locked-container requirement.
But it expands access dramatically. What this actually means for your family is a question of enforcement. Unlike airports, Amtrak does not screen passengers or their luggage.
The railroad does not run passenger names through criminal databases. That holds true at massive hubs like Washington's Union Station. It is also the reality at tiny unstaffed platforms where trains stop in the middle of the night.
In those places, passengers board and the train starts moving before a conductor ever scans a ticket. Several minutes could pass before a firearm is secured under the new proposal. Sheldon Jacobson, a security expert whose research helped design the TSA PreCheck system, said railroads should collect more passenger information at ticket purchase and check backgrounds.
But he acknowledged a hard truth. "The initial condition is that there's almost 400 million guns in this country," Jacobson said. "Then work from there as opposed to trying to create a utopian environment where there's not guns and we're going to keep it that way."
Rail travel poses fewer risks than air travel, Jacobson noted. The investment required for airport-style screening at every station would not be worth the cost. That calculation could change.
A major tragedy on a passenger train would rewrite the equation instantly. "You have to weigh the risks and rewards," he said. "And you have to say, where are we going to put our money to get the greatest risk reduction for the greatest benefit with the least inconvenience to people?"
The human cost already has a history. Unions have fought for nearly a decade to strengthen protections for rail workers. In 2017, a conductor was shot by an enraged passenger at the train station in Naperville, Illinois.
Two bills now in Congress would make it a federal crime to interfere with or assault a rail worker performing their duties, similar to protections for airline crews. States have passed some laws, but the federal push continues. Amtrak and other ground transportation companies barred weapons after the September 11 attacks.
No security measures were put in place to detect firearms. In 2010, Congress passed a law requiring Amtrak to allow firearms to be transported as long as they are checked. The current moment tests that framework.
It is unclear how Amtrak would determine who is legally allowed to carry a gun under the new system. Local laws at a passenger's destination complicate the picture. New York City restricts who can carry guns and requires permits.
Other jurisdictions have far looser rules. A patchwork of state and city laws would greet passengers stepping off trains with lockboxed firearms. Despite existing prohibitions, some passengers are likely already armed.
No one checks. The railroad's board faces a decision with no clean resolution. Expand a policy under pressure from the White House.
Or hold the line after an assassination attempt that began on an Amtrak platform in California. Why It Matters:
The Amtrak proposal would normalize firearm transport on the same rail network used by three-quarters of a million daily commuters, embedding guns into the country's busiest passenger corridor without the screening infrastructure that airports have built over two decades. For working families riding the Northeast Regional or the Pacific Surfliner, the change introduces a new variable into the daily commute — one that security experts say is already present but unacknowledged. Key takeaways from the unfolding debate: - Amtrak's proposed lockbox policy would expand legal firearm transport from a few dozen long-distance trains to more than 1,500 daily routes, including the entire Northeast Corridor. - The plan moves forward despite the April 26 arrest of a man who traveled by Amtrak from California to Washington, D.C., with a shotgun and pistol before a shootout with Secret Service. - Amtrak conducts no passenger or luggage screening, meaning enforcement of any firearm rule relies entirely on self-declaration and conductor oversight. - Gun control advocates and rail unions warn the policy reduces safety for passengers and workers, while security experts say the real issue is the 400 million guns already in circulation.
What comes next is a test phase. Amtrak could begin piloting the lockbox system on select routes soon, the two people told the AP. Congress will face renewed pressure to act.
The two bills protecting rail workers await hearings. Everytown for Gun Safety has called for legislative intervention before the policy expands. The railroad's board must weigh a presidential administration's demands against the images from a hotel ballroom in Washington — shattered glass, a wounded officer, and a cross-country journey that started at a California train station.
Key Takeaways
— - Amtrak's proposed lockbox policy would expand legal firearm transport from a few dozen long-distance trains to more than 1,500 daily routes, including the entire Northeast Corridor.
— - The plan moves forward despite the April 26 arrest of a man who traveled by Amtrak from California to Washington, D.C., with a shotgun and pistol before a shootout with Secret Service.
— - Amtrak conducts no passenger or luggage screening, meaning enforcement of any firearm rule relies entirely on self-declaration and conductor oversight.
Source: AP News
