doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Normal to have a boxed shotgun inspected by USPS?

Is it common to have to unpack a shotgun at the Post Office so they can inspect it before you ship it? The info I saw on the USPS website says it may be inspected, or you may be allowed to certify the gun is legal and not being shipped with ammo, etc and thus bypass inspection.

I'm going to be shipping a SxS that will be broken down, double boxed, wrapped and packed securely. It would be a pain to have to unpack everything at the Post Office and then repack and retape boxes. Just wondering what others experience with this is?

Steve;

About 12 years ago, I learned the difficult way that some USPS clerks go berserk if you tell them you have a gun in a package, and even some postmasters don't believe that it is legal and within USPS rules for a private citizen to ship a long gun to a FFL dealer. In the past I have printed the USPS Domestic Mail manual section on shipping firearms and carried it with me to the post office to show the clerks who are ignorant of USPS regulations.

I do not do anything now but take the package with the long gun into the post office and hand it over for their processing--this is all you have to do according to my interpretation of USPS regulations. The USPS clerks are obligated to ask you their standard questions about if the contents are hazardous and so forth, but you are not obligated to inform them that the contents is a long gun, according to my interpretations.

I just sent packages to a FFL dealer and acted just as I described above, with the exception that I insured the package.

I suggest that you google the USPS domestic mail manual and read up on what you and the USPS requirements are in accordance to your question. I am assuming that you understand that you must be shipping to a FFL and that you need to have a current copy of his/her FFL to protect your interest.

I recall years back when I showed the relevant USPS domestic mail paragraphs to the the USPS clerk (after she refused to take the package) that she was shocked and told me that she had always been told by the postmaster that a private person could not ship a firearm of any sort. Keep quite and do not muddy the water, also if you are shipping to a FFL that it's company name references guns, arms, firearms and so forth, do not use that portion of the title. In my experience it is best to address it to the individual at the address--all of this is to minimize theft inside the USPS. Also ship the package on the first day of the week where there will be little likelyhood of the package spending the week-end in a postal facility--waiting to be stolen.

Been there done that

don ax...don tell...if asked, the best answer is "precision tools...please handle with care"...

or better yet, if you are shipping to kansas, tell erm the package contains digital bibles...

The thing I've run into is that when you get insurance, they wanna know what it is. I've gotten by sometimes by using just the brand name - "What is it you are insuring?"; "It's a Beretta." That has worked several times, but sometimes the clerk presses further.

One thing I always do is to go to a small local PO where I often know the clerk. I have never been made to unpack one.

What Bushveld said. I usually wrap the box in brown wrapping paper and don't say a word to the clerk about the contents. I also try to keep the words "gun" or "firearm" out of the recipient's address if I am able.

If asked the most I'll say is "sporting goods". Could be golf clubs.

Never mention it at my USPS. I think it is a good idea per Coosa's suggestion to just put the brand on insurance. Nobody at my post office is going to understand what WW Greener boxlock non ejector means. And if they do, they probably know the shipping regs.

I asked and was told it was illegal. They refused to accept the package.

What is in this package that you want insured for $3,000.00? "Precision machined 4140 alloy steel tubes". Oh.... OK.

This is why it is good to live in a small town, where everyone knows you. The advice about having a copy of the FFL is good, I include one inside the package.

Mike