No USPS gun ship

[Mike Islander]

Not only can an individual ship a rifle via USPS to an FFL, you can ship it to yourself and send it to another individual in another state. Just address it to yourself.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Any news on this.
I have two to ship but no way I won’t declare them.Im thinking about just having my local ff ship for me.Do I have to do a background to ship them to gunsmith?

 

[BR7.62]

no... you should put a copy of your drivers license in the box.
you could to make things better print out their ffl license and put it in the box.
address it the gunsmith and add signature requirement.

do some googling and reading so you can see it for yourself in print at atf and usps website.
there are regs to follow and they arent difficult.

your gunsmith can mail directly back to you. unless theyve changed recently that is what i did to return things to customers.

 

[Myshootinstinks]

Not only can an individual ship a rifle via USPS to an FFL, you can ship it to yourself and send it to another individual in another state. Just address it to yourself.

Correct. It is done a lot. Particularly when hunting in another state. Many find it easier and even cheaper to put the gun in a hard case and mail it to themselves in care of a buddy or their outfitter.
I have, in the last few months mailed at least a dozen long guns with no issues. All the postal clerk will ask you about is whether the item is hazardous,liquid, etc. Handguns must go FFL to FFL per USPS regs.

 

[parshal]

Any news on this.
I have two to ship but no way I won’t declare them.Im thinking about just having my local ff ship for me.Do I have to do a background to ship them to gunsmith?

I ship guns all the time via USPS. The two post offices I've used never said a thing when I told them it was a gun. It must not be marked in any way to indicate it's a firearm. ATF regs.

Handguns are a different story. PO regs require FFL to FFL and form 1508 to be completed.

@Happy Antelope was shipping his gun(s) to me. I was shocked he wasn't able to ship from his post office.

 

[satchamo]

Right or wrong if I ship guns I do a pickup and let my mailman get it. He never asks questions and takes them. I’ve gotten all sorts of grief or weird looks taking it to the local branch.

 

[Ehunter56]

While a bit of a hassle, another work around would be to take the stock off, and ship it separately. I shipped out a barrelled action last year through our local UPS hub with no problems at all. Even told them what it was. Just make sure the bolt is out as well. Not a "gun" is there's no stock.

 

[fwafwow]

While a bit of a hassle, another work around would be to take the stock off, and ship it separately. I shipped out a barrelled action last year through our local UPS hub with no problems at all. Even told them what it was. Just make sure the bolt is out as well. Not a "gun" is there's no stock.

I don't know what the definition of a firearm is for USPS purposes, but I would be surprised that removing the stock would matter. But I've been wrong may times. Same comment on keeping quiet vs. affirmatively declaring a firearm. Maybe I'm Chicken Little, but if a clearly viable solution is going through an FFL, other solutions with risks seems like picking up nickels in front of a steam roller.

 

[Ehunter56]

fwaf, I was just passing along what my local UPS hub told me. No stock, not a "gun". They just wanted to make sure I had taken the bolt out as well. Why that mattered, I have no idea. lol The local "franchise store" would NOT ship anything gun related at all. Said it was their option as a franchise. The local hub had no problems at all if the stock was not on.

 

[fwafwow]

fwaf, I was just passing along what my local UPS hub told me. No stock, not a "gun". They just wanted to make sure I had taken the bolt out as well. Why that mattered, I have no idea. lol The local "franchise store" would NOT ship anything gun related at all. Said it was their option as a franchise. The local hub had no problems at all if the stock was not on.

Gotcha. My "Chicken Little" POV stems from more than just a personality disorder. I got in a bit of trouble with TSA when I had a bolt in my carry-on bag and was kicked out of TSA pre-check for a while (it could have been worse), as that's a "firearm part" that can't be put on a plane without going through the declaration procedure.

Flying is clearly different from shipping, but I think UPS has similar rules for both "firearms" and "firearm parts" and maybe that UPS person wasn't paying as much attention even to their own rules. And unfortunately I doubt that the UPS guy's advice would be a defense if the government got involved.

Yes, I break the law every day when I drive. But I'm pretty conservative when it comes to the rules that have big repercussions.

 

[Myshootinstinks]

Guys, honestly, there is no issue regarding shipping long guns via USPS. I never used UPS & FedEx much but as I understand it they will only accept guns for shipping from a dealer with a signed agreement to ship guns.
If your post office tells you NO then the clerks, supervisors, Postmaster, etc are ignorant of their own regs. They cannot make up their own rules. They can refuse to accept a parcel if they suspect it contains something hazardous or illegal but a gun without ammo is not.
Heck, just go to another post office, you are bound to find one somewhere in your area where employees are correctly informed.

 

[BrBa]

UPS told me they won't even ship gun parts anymore. Nevermind an action.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

If the local post office and post master will not ship a firearm, file a complaint with the Postmaster Inspector. Their regulations state that they will ship them. The local Post office and Post Master do not get to decide what regulations they will or will not follow. City/town ordinances do not apply to the Post Office on what they are able to do as far as shipping goes.

This. Let's do something about it instead of just walking out and complaining on the internet.

Right or wrong if I ship guns I do a pickup and let my mailman get it. He never asks questions and takes them. I’ve gotten all sorts of grief or weird looks taking it to the local branch.

USPS will pickup from your house for free for certain packages. When I schedule pickups for Priority Mail there's no place on the page to declare what's in the package, they don't ask. It's a perfect solution, assuming you're at home for pickup day.

 

[Scottyboy]

Whatever happened to the “is it mercury, perfume, lithium ion battery” questionnaire? If if im not mistaken USPS cannot ask the contents on the question you hit no to the on the keypad, only acknowledging what is NOT inside the box. My local PO never asks and if they would, I would only respond it’s not mercury blah blah blah….

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

While a bit of a hassle, another work around would be to take the stock off, and ship it separately. I shipped out a barrelled action last year through our local UPS hub with no problems at all. Even told them what it was. Just make sure the bolt is out as well. Not a "gun" is there's no stock.

Except that barreled action has the serial number which makes it a gun. Serialized parts are what qualify.


I mailed 2 guns last week and one today. All. From. The. U. S. P. S.

It’s ok guys.

 

[Happy Antelope]

https://support.shippingeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407009526299-Shipping-Firearms-Rules-and-Restrictions-USPS-UPS-FedEx-Overview

 

[Coopsdaddy]

This shits all over the place.
I am tight but think I’ll have my fff ship,the gunsmith said he will have to ship back to them.
I may have to pay 80 total but that’s for sending 2 out and getting two back.
Better than loosing 5000.00
I promise you will have a fight to get half that back.

 

[gbflyer]

You can ship a long gun via USPS. To yourself in another state, to an FFL in another state, and to ANYONE LEGAL TO OWN A FIREARM in your state. We live and die by the post office in Alaska. If a postal worker has told you differently, they are not doing their job. If a postmaster backs them up, get the contact for the postmasters boss and file a complaint for mail fraud. They will be getting a visit from the postal inspector. He/she carries a service weapon.