# Best way to ship a firearm



## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

I know some of you guys have shipped firearms before.  What is the best way to handle this when someone wants a firearm shipped??  I appreciate any advice you guys can give


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## stev (Jul 1, 2008)

Through a ffl dealer to ffl dealer.Gun doc up near you can do it.


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## WTM45 (Jul 1, 2008)

Yep.  FFL to FFL.
It is the BEST way.  Not the cheapest, and not the only way but the BEST way (for MANY reasons).


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## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

Anybody know about how much it would cost?


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## WTM45 (Jul 1, 2008)

My FFL charges $20 for a transfer plus actual shipping charges.  Shipping charges depend on the shipping address and insurance costs (value).
The receiving FFL usually charges a transfer fee to the buyer as well.


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## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

Thanks for the info


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 1, 2008)

I've shipped many long guns through the postal service with complete satisfaction.  I send them registered mail.

Most of mine have been in state, and I ship directly to the new owner.


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## Bruz (Jul 1, 2008)

US Postal Service Priority Insured. Cheap and hassle free.

Robert


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## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

If I ship to his FFL via USPS, will that cover me in terms of transfer of ownership issues??  I'm really in the dark on some of this stuff,


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## Bruz (Jul 1, 2008)

cpayne32 said:


> If I ship to his FFL via USPS, will that cover me in terms of transfer of ownership issues??  I'm really in the dark on some of this stuff,



Yes. If his FFL sends you a valid FFL and you ship the rifle to the address on that FFL then you have followed the current BATF Regulations. It is the responsibility of the receiving FFL to transfer the firearm to him.

Robert


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## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

WTM45 said:


> My FFL charges $20 for a transfer plus actual shipping charges.  Shipping charges depend on the shipping address and insurance costs (value).
> The receiving FFL usually charges a transfer fee to the buyer as well.



Thanks


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## cpayne32 (Jul 1, 2008)

woops, messed that one up, thanks Bruz


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## fishndinty (Jul 1, 2008)

It is completely legal to ship long guns to a buyer in-state.  USPS Priority Insured is a great way to go.


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## Back2class (Jul 1, 2008)

I am assuming this is a long gun and not a handgun///

You have NO NEED to use a FFL to ship. Only the recipient needs to be a FFL and a FFL is only needed if the gun is being shipped out of GA. If shipped in state no FFL is needed. 

  Long guns.......simply ship it Postal, UPS or fedex to the FFL dealer who will transfer it to the new owner. That is the law.  Why people ship from a FFL is beyond me as it is not necessary. I think some people just do not know the law????? A gun can be shipped by anyone, only the recipient has to be a FFL. 

I simply ship fedex like I would a baseball bat when I ship long guns. They dont ask what it is. I have shipped long guns postal no problem either.


When the out of state buyers FFL sends you his FFL number, check it at the ATF website's ez-check to make sure it is valid. Then just ship the gun to the premisis address listed on the FFL's license.


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## 11P&YBOWHUNTER (Jul 2, 2008)

Box it up and ship it via ups.  They ask what it is, tell them it is a baseball bat or a guitar.


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## seaweaver (Jul 2, 2008)

Best way to ship a firearm?
Sitting between you and a friend w/ the windows down!
cw


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## Wide Earp (Jul 4, 2008)

Back2class said:


> I am assuming this is a long gun and not a handgun///
> 
> You have NO NEED to use a FFL to ship. Only the recipient needs to be a FFL and a FFL is only needed if the gun is being shipped out of GA. If shipped in state no FFL is needed.
> 
> ...



problem is you cannot use just a number you must have a copy in hand


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 4, 2008)

> problem is you cannot use just a number you must have a copy in hand



No you don't.

The law requires that you ship to an FFL (for an out of state transaction).  How you determine that it is an FFL is up to you.  You can hand deliver it to an FFL and never see the FFL.


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

11P&YBOWHUNTER said:


> Box it up and ship it via ups.  They ask what it is, tell them it is a baseball bat or a guitar.



Now you may be turning something that is perfectly legal into a Federal crime (especially if shipping interstate). In certain cases, it may be against federal law to misrepresent the contents of a package being presented for shipment. In fact, I believe that when you ship firearms you are required by law to advise the shipper that it is a firearm. Why take something that is simple and legal and unnecessarily commit a crime?


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

Wyat Earp said:


> problem is you cannot use just a number you must have a copy in hand



NO!
  All you need is the number...no paper is necessary unless you are a dealer shipping it. And even In the case of dealers shipping , in the last few year the law has changed where now even a faxed FFL copy is OK.


Too much wrong info posted on this subject here.


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 5, 2008)

> Box it up and ship it via ups. They ask what it is, tell them it is a baseball bat or a guitar.



First, you have to tell the commercial services what you are shipping.  If you lie about it two things happen.  First, you will not collect any insurance if it is lost or damaged.   Secondly, you have committed a federal felony.

It's your choice.



> In fact, I believe that when you ship firearms you are required by law to advise the shipper that it is a firearm.



It's not a law.  Individual shippers have tariffs that require you to tell them, and shipping something contrary to those tariffs is a violation of law.

The Postal Service on the other hand, does not require you to disclose the contents for insurance purposes.  You are only required to disclose the contents if the clerk asks, and I've never had the clerk ask, even when I shipped 10 guns at one time.

If you really get into it, you can print out all your USPS postage online and hand the package to the carrier.  I don't do that because they aren't set up to scan the package into the system.


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

germag said:


> Now you may be turning something that is perfectly legal into a Federal crime (especially if shipping interstate). In certain cases, it may be against federal law to misrepresent the contents of a package being presented for shipment. In fact, I believe that when you ship firearms you are required by law to advise the shipper that it is a firearm. Why take something that is simple and legal and unnecessarily commit a crime?



NO! Stop making up laws. There may be laws for USPS as what are "company policies" in the private sector are somtimes LAWS with postal. I am not up to snuff on postal laws.  No such laws exist for fedex or ups. I ship via them all the time. They do not ask and I do not tell. When a gun was damaged they paid and never an Issue that no "gun warning" was given. Everyone, please stop making this guy confused.


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

Twenty five ought six said:


> First, you have to tell the commercial services what you are shipping.  If you lie about it two things happen.  First, you will not collect any insurance if it is lost or damaged.   Secondly, you have committed a federal felony.
> 
> It's your choice.
> 
> ...


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

Back2class said:


> NO! Stop making up laws. There may be laws for USPS as what are "company policies" in the private sector are somtimes LAWS with postal. I am not up to snuff on postal laws.  No such laws exist for fedex or ups. I ship via them all the time. They do not ask and I do not tell. When a gun was damaged they paid and never an Issue that no "gun warning" was given. Everyone, please stop making this guy confused.



That may be what you do, but it doesn't necessarily mean you are complying with law. Nobody is "making up laws". Shipping of certain items is governed by law and misrepresenting the contents of a package containing controlled items may, in fact, be a crime. 

There are times when you may violate company policy, and at the same time violate state or federal laws. All common carriers are bound by certain laws and many of their "company policies" are written to comply with those laws. 

One good example of that is a fellow I know that used to ship certain live reptiles via UPS even though they had a policy that strictly forbade shipping those particular animals. His idea was that it was only "company policy" and not law that he was violating.....until the feds knocked at his door with an arrest warrant. He spent 18 months in a federal prison for violating "company policy". His crime was not in shipping the animals, but in intentionally misrepresenting what he was shipping.

Unless you are an attorney experienced in the laws regarding shipping firearms, you might want to think about stopping now......you might be offering bad advice.


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

I had a FFL and keep the regulation books around.  That makes me an expert on shipping firearms. We are not talking about reptiles.


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

Back2class said:


> I had a FFL and keep the regulation books around.  That makes me an expert on shipping firearms. We are not talking about reptiles.




Same principle. We are talking about shipping something that is controlled by the government and disclosure.

My youngest step brother had an FFL too. He just got out of the Federal Prison near Savannah last October for illegally transferring a gun. Simply having an FFL does NOT make you an expert on the laws by any stretch of the imagination.

I think it is illegal to intentionally misrepresent the contents of a shipment containing firearms, no matter WHO you're shipping with. It's certainly not something that I'd ever be irresposible enough to do or advise anyone else to do....especially when it's so easy (if not convenient) to comply with all the laws.


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## cpayne32 (Jul 5, 2008)

seaweaver said:


> Best way to ship a firearm?
> Sitting between you and a friend w/ the windows down!
> cw



I think I am beginning to like seaweavers idea, Seriously, I appreciate all the insight you guys are offering me here


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 5, 2008)

> That makes me an expert on shipping firearms.



R-i-i-i-g-h-t.


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

Twenty five ought six said:


> R-i-i-i-g-h-t.



Well, you had better be if you have aFFL and don't want to end up like germag's step brother. LOL! Seriously, I know the laws on shipping firearms per his original question. I do not know every law about every gun, lizzard or international shipping. But I know how to legaly ship a gun through common carier and wrong information when posted. Just trying to help this guy out on a subject I know a good bit about. Drives me crazy that every time this gets posted that there is a ton of WRONG information posted. It turns into a silly debate.


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

Back2class said:


> Well, you had better be if you have aFFL and don't want to end up like germag's step brother. LOL! Seriously, I know the laws on shipping firearms per his original question. I do not know every law about every gun, lizzard or international shipping. But I know how to legaly ship a gun through common carier and wrong information when posted. Just trying to help this guy out on a subject I know a good bit about. Drives me crazy that every time this gets posted that there is a ton of WRONG information posted. It turns into a silly debate.



OK. You go ahead and advise people to lie to the carrier about what they are shipping. No skin off my nose. I'm not doing it because I don't think you know what you're talking about. I don't have any desire to continue to argue this common-sense point with you and I have a lot better things to do with my time. Hopefully everybody else will have enough common sense to realize it's a supremely bad idea and just ignore your advice.

Color me done with this discussion.....

To the OP: Before you go being deceptive with the carrier about what you are shipping (I doubt you are dumb enough to do that anyway) call the ATF Atlanta Firearms Enforcement group VII at 404-417-1370 and ask them for advice.


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## Back2class (Jul 5, 2008)

I never said to lie about package contents?? I do not know what you are talking about?


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## Twenty five ought six (Jul 5, 2008)

> Fedex does not ask what you are shipping by the way nor is there any law sayaing you have to tell them.
> 
> That makes me an expert on shipping firearms.


In case anyone is still interested in the _facts_; here is the Fedex Tariff:



> Upon presenting the package for shipment, _the person tendering the shipment to FedEx Express is required to notify FedEx Express that the package contains a firearm._ The outside of the package must not be marked, labeled or otherwise identify that the package contains a firearm.



http://www.fedex.com/us/services/terms/us.html


I'll leave further interpretation of that _tariff_ to the self proclaimed experts.


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

Back2class said:


> I never said to lie about package contents?? I do not know what you are talking about?




 Then maybe you should READ before you jump in with both feet. That's EXACTLY what I was talking about. The OP was advised to lie to the carrier about it being a firearm in the package....I was telling him that was a really bad idea. That's when you jumped in and started talking about "company policy", yadayadayada.....


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## germag (Jul 5, 2008)

Twenty five ought six said:


> In case anyone is still interested in the _facts_; here is the Fedex Tariff:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That's exactly rght. All carriers are the same because that the law.


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## Milkman (Jul 5, 2008)

Enough , take all the ya ya to  PMs.


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