Dealer shipping handgun via USPS procedure?

[Swing]

Hey pallies. I recently have become 01 FFL dealer licensed for a side business. According to the USPS licensed dealers can send/receive handguns via the mail. (Priority mail is going to be helluva lot more cost effective than UPS' nonsense, so this is an important part to this side business.)

The regulations are pretty clear cut and it appears I need to file a PS Form 1508 at the time of shipment. I plan to have a chat with the postmaster this week to confirm all that, but I thought I would toss this out there for comment as there has to be other FFLs on board: what is the real world process of shipping a handgun via USPS? Are there any other forms, issues, or considerations, I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

[msmp5]

USPS: No big deal. Other than FedEx once in a very great while, US Postal Service is how I almost always ship. High dollar value guns go by Registered Mail - takes longer, but it requires special handling, signatures every time the box "changes hands", etc. - everything else usually goes by 2-3 Day Priority Mail. I take TWO copies of the PS Form 1508, and have the postal clerk sign and "round stamp" both copies; he gets one that goes in a file somewhere in the bowels of the Post Office, and I keep the other. (Two copies is not required, but if you only have one, they are going to keep it and I like having my own copy for my records, to prove I shipped it in compliance with the USPS regs.) The first time you do it at your local Post Office, there is a very slim possibility that you might get asked to show them a copy of your FFL; doing so is not required - your signature on the 1508 attests to the fact that you are a Dealer shipping to another Dealer - but it might be easier to have a copy with you and show them your FFL, rather than argue about it. (One guy asked to see a copy of my FFL once, many years ago; I told him I didn't have it with me and he shrugged and processed the shipment and 1508 forms anyway. And no one ever asked to see my FFL ever again after that.)

 

[cjwils]

Just to be totally clear, FFLs can ship handguns via USPS only to and from other FFLs.

 

[jonnyc]

I submitted my FFL along with the 1508 to the postmaster, a gun guy, the first time I went that route, haven't needed it since. I always get a hairy eyeball from the old lady on the counter, but never a problem.

 

[Swing]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the details and experiences.

Our postmaster claims there is no way I cannot ship handguns, even as a licensee. I know for a fact she's wrong and I gave her chapter and verse and am waiting to hear back.

 

[jonnyc]

Got another PO nearby?

 

[Hunter86004]

If you're getting static from your local postmaster, copy this: https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c4_009.htm and point out 432.21.

As a dealer, you are an authorized person..

432.21 432.22, handguns may be mailed by a licensed manufacturer of firearms, a licensed dealer of firearms, a licensed importer of firearms, or an authorized agent of the federal government or the government of a state, territory, or district, only when addressed to a person in one of the following categories for use in the person’s official duties, and upon filing the required affidavit or certificate: