Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Quick question on shipping guns

I am going to try to sell a few rifles on this and other forums. How do you go about shipping them and getting the paperwork done as I have not done this before. Thanks for the help.

R

Rifles are easy: Take the bolt out. Box everything up. Don't write anything on the outside that indicates it's a gun. Take it to the Post Office and mail it to the buyer's FFL. (Get a copy of the FFL prior to mailing).

Well, I guess I should have been more specific on the guns. One is a semi .22 and the other a pump shotgun. Are they different since you can't take a bolt out?

R

I don't think you have to do anything special on long guns other than putting it in a box and shipping it to an FFL. You can go to ATF's website and do some reading and it'll cover it.

Most shippers will want a copy of the FFL in their hands, but its not a requirement, you just have to make sure you're shipping to an FFL.

Pistols have to go FFL to FFL.

Thanks for all of your help.

R

Make a copy of the copy.. Insert one copy WITH the firearm and keep the other for your records.. That way, if the shipper does some inspection to ensure it's a legal shipment, they can observe the FFLs address on the copy and the package.. Mostly a CYA type of thing....

Great point, thanks

R

Here is the link, and here are some of most pertinent regs:

ATF FAQ Link

(B7) 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 his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The 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)(3), 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A)]

(B8) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?

A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]

(B9) May a nonlicensee ship firearms interstate for his or her use in hunting or other lawful activity?

Yes. A person may ship a firearm to himself or herself in care of another person in the State where he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. The package should be addressed to the owner. Persons other than the owner should not open the package and take possession of the firearm.

Cheesy
"Most shippers will want a copy of the FFL in their hands, but its not a requirement, you just have to make sure you're shipping to an FFL."

I have held an FFL for nearly 30 years. I have never had any shipper ask for any documentation. An FFL copy is not something that should just be thrown around and I would take extreme offense to someone giving some postal, FedEx or UPS idiot a hard copy of my license.

As a non-FFL there is very little that needs to be done. Simply check the BATF site for an active FFL, box and ship. Once the shipment is confirmed and the deal finished I would purge the paper immediately. On my personal guns I do not maintain any records or comments about to whom or where I sold them.
art

I'm sure glad we up here in Kanada don't have to ship to a dealer..we can ship to anyone in the country...even handguns....gotta like that...

If you guys are not listing the contents how are you insuring it? I list the serial number and model which is the bare minimum for an insurance claim if lost or destroyed. I know Fedex is horrible to deal with but UPS will take anything as long as you ship it from their main hub. Im 50/50 on whether they open the box to confirm is it not loaded.

art, what about keeping a record of to whom/when you sold a firearm in case it ended up in the wrong hands or was involved in a crime?

Don't matter if he didn't do it.

Let's say he did.

Then he is more important things to worry about.

I'm not worried about "him."

Sorry for the bump, just adding a clarification--



Sitka-

I could have used better wording there, I didn't mean 'shipper' as in UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc, I meant 'shipper' as in the individual selling the gun that will be doing the shipping.

Whenever I've bought through the classfieds, or auction sites, it seems everybody wants a signed copy of the FFL before they will ship, even though the laws do not say this is needed. Like you said, verify through BATF that the name and address is an active FFL and ship away.

The next problem I've ran into is an FFL holder with a storefront as well as 40-50 guns on auction sites that claim it has to go FFL to FFL. He has to know this isn't true, but stands fast by his decision even when called out on it and asked to look it up. Oh well, he conducts his business as he sees fit, and I refuse to buy locally from him when he was my preferred dealer before he refused to do a transfer unless it was shipped from an FFL.

Not true.. Ammo must be shipped from a shipping dealer. It cannot go over-the-counter...

UPS asks what is in the box (firearm or whatever).. One of the reasons I refuse to ship firearms UPS.. All that does is give someone there info on what box to open and steal/sell the contents... I use UPS for many things but firearms is definitely NOT one of them..

I've used UPS one time, and USPS all the rest of the times when shipping firearms, whether I'm selling (sending to an FFL to receive the rifle for processing to the new owner) or when simply sending a firearm to a gunsmith for work ... never had an issue at all ... but then again, I've only shipped about 20+ times in the last few years ...

A little confused on that one. Maybe Im not understanding but I ship ammo UPS all the time. Yes, they ask what it is "ORD-M, Small Arms Ammuntion" tags must be on the package or at least written in bold marker. No fuss, no hassle. My post office of course, will not take ammo of ANY kind and they too ask whats in anything I ship. Must be differences in people? offices? no clue here.

Just fyi comparing USPS and UPS. I recieved a 700 HEAVY varmint USPS, from AZ to IN. Shipped and insured over 37 bucks via USPS. Sent same set up, same box,to a southern state (yes not as far but...less than half price?) shipped and insured UPS, less than 17 bucks. Distance was some of it but I also sent a Rem 504 rimfire, scope etc from IN to WA state( dont get much further than that for me) UPS insured, just over 21 bucks. No complaints about UPS here.....yet. lol