Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shipping rifle to family???

I have never been asked by the USPS what I was shipping.

I have been asked by UPS and FEDEX.

You can google-fu all you want.

I'm just trying to help the OP with his question.

Clearly.

In Portlandopolis it was common to be asked, based upon box shape and destination address, if the parcel was a firearm at the USPS. "Yes, an unloaded long-gun in full compliance with the mailing rules and regulations, " turned out to be the best answer for all involved. Saying GFY was not helpful. One regular teller, a veteran, demanded I answer yes, potentially hazardous but not in it's current unloaded state, it is an unloaded long-gun .in compliance etc....... This was right after a high profile mass shooting and it wasn't in anyone's best interest to argue really.

How often is someone prosecuted for slight errors? Can you sometimes do it without signature service? Is it OK to lie like a common criminal? We all make our choices. Doing my best to be in compliance is a choice and fairly easy to do. I don't want to be the guy making a fuss with a firearm in a post office. Getting old I guess.

Clearly in care of someone else is OK. Ship it!

Lots of bad advice here. Yes you can ship it. No you can't ship to your brother legally.

The ship to yourself rule allows you to ship your firearm to yourself for your own use, the firearm not being transferred into the possession of another. Say I'm planning a SD pheasant hunt. I can lawfully ship my shotgun to myself in care of the outfit I booked with. Typically the package is held for you unopened so a "transfer" cannot be claimed.

The prohibition is the transfer of a firearm crossing state lines to a non-licensee, transfer being physical possession So technically leaving the firearm with you constituted an illegal transfer. Not that any agent in his right mind would waste his time with such a trivial and innocent matter. But don't compound the matter bu using a subterfuge to effect a transfer back to him.

Per firearms law anybody can ship to a license holder. Easiest thing is to have your FFL ship to his FFL and for a few bucks extra not have to worry about it.

This will all be somewhere on the ATF site. Probably you can suss it out from the Q&A page. Good luck with the Post Office or common carrier's site. Last time the postmaster said no, I handed her their own regulations, she called somewhere and eventually said yes. Much easier to use your FFL who has already been through all that.

Neither MT nor AK has a problem with transfers sans paperwork. Suggesting there is anything wrong there is ridiculous. Adding the family element crosses a whole new level...

Be gentle with night bird, he's had a ruff weekend.

2. May I lawfully transfer a firearm to a friend who resides in a different State? Under Federal law, an unlicensed individual is prohibited from transferring a firearm to an individual who does not reside in the State where the transferee resides...
ATF - Top 10 Frequently Asked Firearms Questionsand Answers

I believe the issue of what constitutes a transfer came up most recently regarding loaning guns. I beleive there is an ATF ruling published but that was some time ago. It has become irrelevant to me and ran out my ears to make room for more trivia. Went something like OK to lend at a trap range because the owner has control over the firearm. Compare loaning a firearm to a guy who goes to hunt somewhere away from you.

Disclaimer: I once made a declarative statement. The prof said, "How do you know?" I said, "I remember reading it." He ended the matter when he said, "How do you know you've remember correctly?" So rely at your own risk. Why lawyers do research. write briefs, and charge money.

To the contrary. I am amenable to changing my opinion IF a rational case can be made. On those threads nobody did. I don't care if people call me names. Reverting to ad hominem attack is universally considered a tacit surrender.

It is easier for me to read english if you write english. WHAT ??

This^^^ Why take the chance, pay the transfer fee. ship to a FFL.

From the ATF Q&A Page: I was looking specifically st the Post Office. Fed Ex and UPS seem to have their own rules which are on a fly wheel and it just depends on where that wheel stops or who you ask. They don't know their own policy. Once told me they couldn't ship a scope because it was part of a firearm!!!

May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another state. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of their own state or to a licensee in any state.

The U.S. Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms.

Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.

[18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A); 27 CFR 478.31]

One could always contact the ATF directly and seek clarification on the matter. You don't have to guess or gamble.