doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Can Agent of USPS refuse to ship guns?

Our local Mom and Pop storefront USPS/ UPS/ FEDEX/PO Boxes/copy shop has refused to accept firearms for shipment. Shipper and receiver were licensed by ATF. They put up a sign after I attempted to do so stating no firearms would be accepted. In fact, they opened my box when they suspected what it was and called me on the phone and told me to come get the parcel. The sign didn't stay up very long and I never made an issue of their refusal to accept guns. But it occurred to me the other day that they, as an agent of the USPS (they have the official postal service sign in the window) could not in fact refuse such shipments. That would be in violation of USPS regs. I think they could do so if they were ONLY agents of the private carriers. What say you?

I say you are right.

On the other hand you are getting legal advice from an alcoholic Aggie plumber.

Best,

Mike

Gil, at the PO, I lay the box on the scale and preface my desire to ship with a statement that I am shipping a gun. I apply just a bit of reassuring spin by saying that it's a "collector shotgun, broken down, no ammo". I then show the receiver license and state that it is a requirement to ship in that knowing way that says I know more than they do (which is occasionally the case). If there is hesitant trepidation or suspicion, I welcome a consultation with the office manager or postmaster. I've only stood in the corner with my box once; never had one opened. Seems to me that your Jiffy Mail operation is allowing the arbitrary obstinacy of the common carriers to contaminate the postal regs.

jack

Unfortunately, I had the same experience with a UPS STORE. They finally shipped it after a lot of overbearing conversation. After checking the UPS regulations , it states that only UPS facilities and not the "Stores " can ship firearms.
Teddy and Nancy must own a lot of stock in this frustrating
companys corporation
USPS is a lot better to ship with and you dont have the misery of dealing with those other idiots.

If you go to an agent's store to ship a gun, I hope you are self insured.

The "agent" is this private business and they set their own rules. They are not USPS employees. FedX and UPS will not let thier company sotres accept guns.

Just go to the Post Office and mail it from there.

around here at least, this is the norm for storefront places that handle shipments of firearms. none do that i'm aware of. what annoys me is the actual UPS facility for fort worth won't take guns from individuals. i argued for 15 minutes one day, even had the regs printed out and finally the lightbulb came on and the UPS guy said "OH! i'm not arguing about the LAW. this is our POLICY!"

so whether or not the answer to your question is technically "yes", it sure is intrinsically "yes".

roger

ps - go to the PO. for all the complaining people do about USPS, in nearly 800 shipments for ebay stuff and 8-10 guns so far i've not had one tiny problem of any kind. near as i can tell, USPS and the military are the only units of the federal gov't worth allowing to exist.

I will also add in a vote for USPS but you have to go in knowing what the rules are.I like the way Jack (rabbit) does it and it does lessen the chance of "standing in the corner with your packag"I have found this site a while back somewhat dated but still helpful.
http://www.thegunzone.com/ship-guns.html

Shipping of guns,especially when you add in C&R and handguns can be very confusing and open to interpredation but a long gun through the USPS is a slam dunk legal as long as the reciever is a FFL.

I checked the UPS/FedUp Mailboxes etc. store's rules once. No guns is in their policy statement. They are independent from the actual carrier and can refuse certain articles (guns, HazMat, etc) at their discretion.

I think the UPS stores and the FedEx stores may be franchise business.

that's true. the little strip mall places are just drop off points, providing a service (which is another reason you never use them - actual shipping plus their fee equals seriously ripped off). federal law provides for you to own the gun, for a legal recipient to receive it and for common carriers to transport it. for a gun to lay around some store in a strip mall isn't covered. and as noted, those people are not legal agents or representatives of UPS/fedex/etc nor are they covered under any licensing agreement. they're just some guy who takes your package and for a fee hands it to the UPS truck that makes regular stops. it's no different than if you tried to get a domino's pizza to handle a gun for you.