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Addressing a firearms package for USPS shipment

taperloctaperloc Member Posts: 420 ✭✭✭
edited December 2008 in Ask the Experts
When you ship a rifle or shotgun to an FFL via. USPS, how do you address the package if the FFL is something like " JOE'S GUN SHOP " USPS regs. state that you are not to mark that it is a firearm in the package, but it seems to me that from the size, shape, and weight of the package and with a gun shop address, it would be a dead give away that it was a gun.

UPS will not accept any firearm from a non-FFL. I went all the way to the shipping manager at the UPS home office and she told me they would not accept my firearms packages.

Comments please

Comments

  • HerschelHerschel Member Posts: 2,035 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In addressing the package for shipment through USPS, just address it to the name of the owner and address. The ffl should have his name on it.

    It is not UPS policy to refuse to ship firearms from a non-ffl holder. The person you talked to was unaware of company policy. Someone one here will probably cite the UPS company reg that covers shipping firearms. I am an ffl holder and don't have reason to remember it.
  • burpfireburpfire Member Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i get around that very easy by just putting a last name after the first name if there is a gun store in the title. i usually just use the standard last name of johnson. never had a problem so far. also, i ship guns by ups all the time without a problem. you need to get your shipping center straightened out!
  • dfletcherdfletcher Member Posts: 8,178 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by taperloc
    When you ship a rifle or shotgun to an FFL via. USPS, how do you address the package if the FFL is something like " JOE'S GUN SHOP " USPS regs. state that you are not to mark that it is a firearm in the package, but it seems to me that from the size, shape, and weight of the package and with a gun shop address, it would be a dead give away that it was a gun.

    UPS will not accept any firearm from a non-FFL. I went all the way to the shipping manager at the UPS home office and she told me they would not accept my firearms packages.

    Comments please



    Not so. UPS will not accept a firearm from a non - FFL (and maybe not even from an FFL) at their stores, you need to go to a service center, as in where people pick up their "we left a note when you were away" deliveries and where the trucks are loaded and unloaded. I've done this many times out of the San Fran service center. Items were declared and insured as firearms.
  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,083 ******
    edited November -1
    Send it to Joe's.

    My FFL is in the name Nunn's Guns. Smart people ship to Nunn's or David Nunn, and not Nunn's Guns. Had I been thinking clearly when I settled on a business name, I would have chosen something that has nothing to do with the word "gun," and which would give no clue as to what business was being conducted. Something like "Owl Farm Enterprises."
  • 11b6r11b6r Member Posts: 16,584 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    To ship a LONG GUN by UPS, call them for a pickup. Or take it to their hub. The "UPS Store" is NOT a hub, it is a franchise, and they do not accept firearms for shipment. Here is a link to the UPS policy from THEIR website. http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/prepare/guidelines/firearms.html

    They DO accept shipment from non-FFL folks. And FWIW, if the addressee has GUN in its name, I change it. C3's Guns and ammo became C3's G&A, or just C3's.
  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,891 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You can't phone UPS for a pick-up; they will only pick up a gun from customers with a regularly scheduled pick-up, not a 1-time-only.

    dfletcher is correct about using a "hub". You have a computer; check the UPS website & find their "tariff". Print the pages concerning shipment of firearms, & take it with you to the hub. Some folks have found it easiest to note "firearm for repair", as some UPS employees aren't aware that the rules have changed.

    Sometimes you have to phone corporate in order to re-educate the local UPS manager. She will remember you in the future, & will show you great courtesy.

    Neal
  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,083 ******
    edited November -1
    My nearest UPS counter is 35 miles away, and UPS wants me to pay for what their employees steal, so I use USPS exclusively.
  • mrbrucemrbruce Member Posts: 3,374
    edited November -1
    You most certainly can call UPS for a pickup, I do it a lot when I need to use them, and they don't care if it's a one time thing or not, they will pick up the package.
  • sandwarriorsandwarrior Member Posts: 5,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Guys,

    He's talking USPS; United States Postal Service, not UPS; United Parcel Service.

    It's been a thing as of late the the USPS will not ship ammo stating they don't have the ability to differentiate that it needs to be ground shipped.

    IT IS NOT, repeat NOT, USPS policy to deny shipment of a firearm whether from FFL or not. The best thing for you to do is put it in a secure unmarked box, padded well, two day with tracking, properly insured, with no outward sign that it's a gun. If "Joes Gunshop" is the business name then do as noted and send it to the owners name. Make sure you mark that ANY employee can sign for it.
  • OLAKOLAK Member Posts: 88 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    To scedule a pick up from ups the number to call is 1-800-742-5877 this is an automatic system, to talk to a live person keep saying "Agent" and eventually you will get an agent to speak with.
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