Shipping a handgun

[tallguy606]

Sold a handgun to a guy in North Carolina. I have never shipped a handgun before, but did a little research beforehand. Post Office will not ship at all, according to their regs. Only choices left are FedEx or UPS, both of which require all handguns to be shipped only by Next Day Air. I had the gun in a 4-pound box about the size of a shoebox. When the FedEx clerk said, that'll be $98, I almost passed out. I said, are you sending it on Air Force One??? Yet I see on GunBroker that most sellers charge $25-35 for shipping a handgun, and some say Priority (US PO), or Ground (UPS). How can they get away with this when the PO, UPS, and FedEx regs clearly prohibit that method?

 

[LSUSMC]

By either bringing it to an FFL or ignoring the rules.

 

[SpeedRacer]

FFLs can ship ground and USPS. I'd call a few of your local shops, a lot of them will ship it for you for a much lower fee than Fedex overnight.

 

[whitsend]

Take it to a FFL. FFLs can ship USPS so even with their fee it is usually cheaper.

 

[richiespng]

UPS and FedEx require handguns to go Next Day Air, which as you found is very expensive. FFL holders still have to ship handguns via air but we are allowed to send them 2nd Day Air, which is quite a bit cheaper. Not sure why the rules are what they are. They can also ship it USPS, but quite a few dont because its easier through UPS.

I would advise finding an FFL that will ship it for you. It may be difficult to find one that will do it for you though. I would suspect that if they did, they would also charge you a transfer fee as they have to write the firearm into their books before they release it. I've heard of other people who just ignored the rules and sent it ground or USPS and didnt say anything. If something happens to it (it gets lost, damaged, etc) its going to be a nightmare.

 

[Robbie]

Handgun MUST ship FFL to FFL

 

[madwabbit]

yeah i know the fee is annoying but ffl to ffl man, really the only legitimate option if ftf not possible.

 

[TheFinalPilgrim]

Disassemble and ship as "gun parts?" I've heard of that being done... Obviously I wouldn't disclose what it is but if the question comes up you could very well classify it as gun parts. If that bothers you then ship the upper and lower separately? Just suggestions, I'm sure neither of these are the 100% legal FFL way to go about it- just trying to help.

 

[olivs260]

Disassemble and ship as "gun parts?" I've heard of that being done... Obviously I wouldn't disclose what it is but if the question comes up you could very well classify it as gun parts. If that bothers you then ship the upper and lower separately? Just suggestions, I'm sure neither of these are the 100% legal FFL way to go about it- just trying to help.

Pretty sure the 'lower' is considered a firearm on its own, like the lower of an AR, and cannot be sold to someone in another state without going through an FFL. Can someone else confirm?

 

[SpeedRacer]

Disassemble and ship as "gun parts?" I've heard of that being done... Obviously I wouldn't disclose what it is but if the question comes up you could very well classify it as gun parts. If that bothers you then ship the upper and lower separately? Just suggestions, I'm sure neither of these are the 100% legal FFL way to go about it- just trying to help.

Absolutely no. The receiver/frame is legally considered a firearm whether it's disassembled or not.

 

[olivs260]

Absolutely no. The receiver/frame is legally considered a firearm whether it's disassembled or not.

Thunk so. Thanks, bro.

 

[richiespng]

Disassemble and ship as "gun parts?" I've heard of that being done... Obviously I wouldn't disclose what it is but if the question comes up you could very well classify it as gun parts. If that bothers you then ship the upper and lower separately? Just suggestions, I'm sure neither of these are the 100% legal FFL way to go about it- just trying to help.

When it comes to firearms, there are only two ways of doing things. 100% legal and illegal. No gray area in there.

 

[tallguy606]

I DID use an FFL. I got an FFL guy in Louisiana to ship to a FFL dealer in North Carolina. No one mentioned any discount for being a dealer. The irony is, the receiving gun shop was closed for two days because of the ice storm on the east coast, so I spent $98 to get it there in 3 days.