Shipping a handgun to someone else intrastate?

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Alex45ACP

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I live in Florida. If I sell a handgun online, can I ship it straight to the buyer, who is also a Florida resident, without going through an FFL?
 
Unless Florida has a law prohibiting it, then, YES, you can.

ATF FAQ:

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#gca-unlicensed-transfer

Q: To whom may an unlicensed person transfer firearms under the GCA?
A person may sell a firearm to an unlicensed resident of his State, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may loan or rent a firearm to a resident of any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may sell or transfer a firearm to a licensee in any State. However, a firearm other than a curio or relic may not be transferred interstate to a licensed collector.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and (5), 922(d), 27 CFR 478.29 and 478.30


Q: 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]
 
Not trying to start an argument, but unless the BATF regulations have recently changed, my understanding is that you can ship directly to an intra-state purchaser via common carrier (FedEx, UPS, etc.) as long as there is no state prohibition against it and the purchaser is not prohibited from owning the firearm being shipped.

Intra-state Firearm Shipping

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]


That said, it may be cheaper to ship to a FFL from a FFL who can use USPS priority mail. Of course, the purchaser may have FFL fees on his end.

You should probably check with your local BATF office.
 
However, good luck finding a carrier that will ship for you.
Both UPS and FedEx rules state that they will only ship if a FFL is involved.
UPS says only between FFL's and Fed Ex says either the shipper or addressee must be a FFL.

(Of course you could always lie about what's in the package...:barf:)
 
However, good luck finding a carrier that will ship for you.
Both UPS and FedEx rules state that they will only ship if a FFL is involved.
UPS says only between FFL's and Fed Ex says either the shipper or addressee must be a FFL.

You have to read UPS' regs carefully:

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/firearms.html

"UPS accepts packages containing firearms, as defined by Title 18, Chapter 44, and Title 26, Chapter 53 of the United States Code, for transportation from and between licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, licensed dealers, and licensed collectors, as defined in Title 18, Chapter 44 of the United States Code, law enforcement agencies of the United States (or of any department or agency of the United States) and law enforcement agencies of any state or department agency (or political subdivision of any state), and from and between persons not otherwise prohibited from shipping firearms by federal, state or local law and when such shipment complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws applicable to the shipper, recipient and package." [emphasis added]

"from and between persons not otherwise prohibited from shipping firearms" means the rest of us as long as it's not prohibited by law.
 
I routinely receive both UPS and Fedex shipments of handguns from fellow Floridians ... it is not against the law and both UPS and FEDEX have shipped to me within the past 30 days ...
 
Here is a "how-to" that worked with UPS in Virginia despite initial resistance from the shipper:

"I sold a Smith to a Forum member, who is a Virginia resident. I went down to the regional UPS hub and the counter lady helped me wrap the handgun in bubble wrap, after checking the cylinder. However, when I stated that I was shipping to an individual, she balked, saying I could only ship to an FFL or a licensed collector.

I had printed out the UPS firearms section, where it stated "person to person, if not prohibited by law" and the section from the ATF FAQs, where it says that residents of the same state can ship to each other by common carrier.

The counter lady called corporate and I spoke to another customer rep, who repeated the same line. After listening to her, I asked to speak with her supervisor. I repeated the UPS regs and the Federal law to her. After she researched the ATF regs and the UPS guidelines online, she approved my shipment."
 
Last edited:
WardenWolf said:
No. If it requires shipping, it must go through an FFL.
May I suggest you look up the appropriate laws, and stop limiting yourself and confusing others.


Unless the state laws prohibits it, it is quite legal to ship a handgun directly to another eligible resident of that state.
 
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