Never have. My interactions with TSA has been positive. The airlines seem to go out of their way to insure that guns are not stolen. It gives them a royal headache, because the system insures that there are witnesses that you had the gun in the luggage.
If you can legally possess the gun where you are going, and where you started from, you can legally transport it in checked luggage.
>>t gives them a royal headache, because the system insures that there are witnesses that you had the gun in the luggage.<<
A gun gets special attention — they are few, they are specifically declared, they are of concern to LEOs across the spectrum.
Even the dumbest TSA agent or baggage handler knows to mess with one would be inviting HUGE trouble. Better to take something like a laptop (although baggage stealing has become pretty rare anyway since baggage is under more scrutiny).
Just be sure you don't make a unscheduled weather-related landing in NYC or New Jersey, where you will then not only have your gun seized by police but also have felony firearms charges filed against you, making you a prohibited person for the rest of your life. As has happened to a few people.