Shipping Firearms by USPS

[Cowboy71]

So I just recently sold my first gun online. I received the money today and took the boxed up gun (long gun not a handgun) to my local post office all prepared to ship it to the buyer's FFL in Ohio. Prior to this I had checked here, the USPS web site, and the ATF web site and all indicated that the USPS will ship long guns from unlicensed persons to an FFL.

Well, I go in and the guy behind the counter says no way, that USPS will only ship from one FFL to another FFL. I knew that wasn't right, so a friend of mine that works there comes by and says oh yeah, we ship firearms but it has to be unloaded, disassembled, and unable to fire -- first I' ve ever heard of this. And then yet another person comes by and says, in addition all the disassembled parts have to be shipped in separate boxes.

Finally the postmaster came out and I got lucky because he was in the process of trying to get a Model 19 shipped from somebody in Montana so he had been looking into how to do it himself. He made a call and his superiors or whoever had him print out a form for me to sign.

This form, as best I could tell, indicated I was a manufacturer, but the postmaster said they would keep it on file and ship the gun for me after I signed it. So I did and got the thing weighed, paid for, and hopefully on the way.

My question is has anyone else run into this? Everything I have see says non-FFL holders shipping long guns to an FFL by USPS is okay. But this first guy I talked to had just come over from a Kentucky office and he insisted they would not do it over there at all. I don't think all these people using Gunbroker, etc are shipping FFL to FFL. Am I wrong?

 

[Manatee]

How did they know it was a long gun? They should only be asking if it's hazardous perishable or breakable.

 

[KoopaKGB]

Take it boxed and sealed up and mail it like any other package. Insure it if you care to.

 

[Cowboy71]

How did they know it was a long gun? They should only be asking if it's hazardous perishable or breakable.

They asked what it was and I told them. I guess I could have made something up but I didn't want to lie about it.

 

[randygun]

alot of manufacturers will not give names ship just like that

 

[DanVoils]

When they ask you what's in the package you can truthfully answer sporting goods. When they ask if it's liquid, fragile, perishable or potentially hazardous answer no. I've shipped a lot of packages over the years and quite honestly they do not need to know precisely what's in the package unless it's going out of country. A lot of them ask just to be nosy.

 

[PGRChaplain]

Machine Parts.

 

[Litlratt]

432 Mailability

 

[griffin]

Cowboy, are you a licensed manufacturer or FFL?

 

[Cowboy71]

432 Mailability

I believe form 1508 at the bottom of that page is what they had me fill out before they accepted my package.

 

[Cowboy71]

Cowboy, are you a licensed manufacturer or FFL?

Neither, just a private citizen.

 

[SSGSAD]

I traded my Rossi lever action, in 2004, but B4 that, I shipped it back to mfg., through USPS, with NO problem at all. But it was B4 2004..... Don't know, what has changed since then .....

 

[Pinchaser]

The following is from the ATF website. A non-licensee may indeed ship a long gun (there are specs it must meet to be a qualifying "long gun") via the USPS. If shipping within your own state, you may ship it directly to your buyer. Shipping out of your state requires it to go to a licensee. Form 1508 is used by manufacturers and dealers (i.e. licensees) and is not used/needed by non-licensees.

Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.
[18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(3), 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A)]

OP - the mistake you made was telling the USPS clerk what was in the package. You have no obligation to do so. A good 80% of USPS employees are totally ignorant of their own rules/regs (as per the DMM.) When they ask if there is anything dangerous.....etc., just say no. Put NOTHING on the outside of the package that would identify it as containing a gun.

 

[Cowboy71]

The following is from the ATF website. A non-licensee may indeed ship a long gun (there are specs it must meet to be a qualifying "long gun") via the USPS. If shipping within your own state, you may ship it directly to your buyer. Shipping out of your state requires it to go to a licensee. Form 1508 is used by manufacturers and dealers (i.e. licensees) and is not used/needed by non-licensees.

Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.
[18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(3), 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A)]

Yep, that's all the info I was going on before I ever went in to the PO. But the goon behind the counter was convinced he was right even though I told him what the USPS site as well as ATF says.

 

[davedolli]

I think it depends on who is behind the counter. I shipped a rifle to a FFL threw USPS with no problems what so ever. A few months I shipped a muzzle loader to someone in another state and the ask me a lot of questions. I sent a satellite receiver to a hobbyist friend of mine in July and wrapped it up in Christmas paper as a joke and they did not dig that at all. I thought I was going to have to cut it open and show them what was inside.

Dave

 

[vwoodrum11]

I shipped a Marlin 357 rifle 2 weeks ago USPS without any problems. It was fedex that gave me problems so I went USPS.

 

[gunman41mag]

Ship it thur FEDEX or UPS

 

[warren5421]

If I ship a long gun I take the stock off so it is not so long. I have seen 2 stocks broken up on arrival. They do get rough treatment some times.

 

[outboardpersonnel]

First time posting here, but just had an "incident" in Greenwood. I tried to ship just some firearms parts through UPS at one of their "franchised" stores, and they told me no, I had to go to a hub in Indianapolis. This was a para lower from DSA, which I was shipping back to them. I called UPS proper and they told me the same thing. I told them thanks for nothing and went to USPS with no problems. Does anyone know if the shipper really needs a license for even just shipping parts? Has such a policy always been in place for such companies like UPS and FEDEX, or is this a result of the current climate? Anyways, thanks for the help.

 

[ModernGunner]

Not too long ago, there was no real issue shipping firearm parts through UPS, or even entire firearms.

But, y'all allowed BHO and Feinstein to get re-elected, and "Double-Barrel Biden" bought a 12 ga. double for his wife...