OK. I'll admit it, I think I was wrong. I think the NRA website is wrong, I think the ATF website purposefully skirts the main point of this.
The more I read the code over and over, and sift through the legal-ese of run-on sentences, countless commas and semi-colons, I believe the written notification is required for shipments to anyone
OTHER THAN FFL's and other licensed entities.
Federal law 18 USC 922(e):
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to deliver or cause to be delivered to any common or contract carrier for transportation or shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, to persons other than licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, licensed dealers, or licensed collectors, any package or other container in which there is any firearm or ammunition without written notice to the carrier that such firearm or ammunition is being transported or shipped; except that any passenger who owns or legally possesses a firearm or ammunition being transported aboard any common or contract carrier for movement with the passenger in interstate or foreign commerce may deliver said firearm or ammunition into the custody of the pilot, captain, conductor or operator of such common or contract carrier for the duration of the trip without violating any of the provisions of this chapter. No common or contract carrier shall require or cause any label, tag, or other written notice to be placed on the outside of any package, luggage, or other container that such package, luggage, or other container contains a firearm.
27 CFR 47831(a):
No person shall knowingly deliver or cause to be delivered to any common or contract carrier for transportation or shipment in interstate or foreign commerce to any person other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, any package or other container in which there is any firearm or ammunition without written notice to the carrier that such firearm or ammunition is being transported or shipped: Provided, That any passenger who owns or legally possesses a firearm or ammunition being transported aboard any common or contract carrier for movement with the passenger in interstate or foreign commerce may deliver said firearm or ammunition into the custody of the pilot, captain, conductor or operator of such common or contract carrier for the duration of that trip without violating any provision of this part.
So boiling all that down, isn't this saying:
"No person shall knowingly deliver a firearm to any carrier for shipment to any person other than a licensed dealer without written notice." ??
I guess that's saying you need written notice if you're shipping to anyone other than an FFL. For shipping to an FFL, no notification to the carrier is required.
The individual carriers may have their own policies, but as far as the actual law goes, I believe I was mistaken. Always learning!
