[rsync]

"Last time I did it (this was before 2001 and the police state hysteria we're in now) all that you had to do was get a little sticker for the bags handle at the check in counter (they asked us to show that the gun was unloaded.)"

This is still the case, post-2001. You bring the firearms in a locked, hard case and you show the gate agent that they are unloaded, then you lock the case in front of them and they put some stickers on it.

The only sketchy part is, you have to take a firearm out in the ticket line to show it to the gate agent, who has a hazy-at-best understanding of whether that particular firearm is loaded or not.