mailed a rifle - need a laugh?

[roscoe]

So, I bought my dad a clean Winchester 88 for his birthday and reckoned I'd mail it out to him. First, thinking it would be prudent, I went into the post office without the rifle (well, it was in the car). When I told the woman behind the counter I wanted to mail a rifle, her eyes got big and she stepped back. She exchanged fearful glances with the other counterpeople. "Mail a rifle? I don't know if we do that!" I explained that it was OK to mail a long gun in the mail, but she scurried back to her manager. I sat out front for about 20 minutes while they tried to figure out what to do. Finally, she came back out and said it would be OK. I brought it in and she asked to see that it was unloaded and when I opened the chamber she kept looking back at the bolt. I pointed to the chamber "see, over here, unloaded". She nodded without quite seeing what I was pointing at, so I started wrapping it up. After it was mostly wrapped the manager came out and told me to wait . . . she was downloading the paperwork I was to fill out. Now, I knew there was no paperwork, but I said I would wait. Another 20 minutes later, she came out and apologized, but the paperwork wouldn't download from the USPS website, but that I could do it myself - publication 52 on the USPS site.

So, what do I do, but drive home, download publication 52 from the USPS site in about 2 minutes, burn a copy in PDF format onto CD and take it back to the post office. I had to explain that there was no paperwork for me to fill out and gave the CD to the counterwoman. She took it into the back and returned another 10 minutes later, clearly embarassed, and said that it would be OK to send it just like any other package. Another 5 minutes of wrapping and I was out the door, having only spent 2 hours doing what should have taken 15 minutes.

Now, normally I am a fan of the USPS, having seen how screwed up mail service is in virtually every other country. But to not have anyone on staff that knew the law, and not to even have the proper publications, or even a connection fast enough to download them. What a laugh!

 

[duckfoot]

Not have as funny as one gentleman telling me that he had the power strip plugged into itself and was wondering why his computer would not come on.

Or

Another gentleman asked why his computer would not turn on during a power outage.

Both worked for the USPS





I work for the USPS


:banghead:

 

[MAKOwner]

You scared the sheep... "Baaaahhhh!" said the sheep.

It pays to be armed with a printout of the regs about firearms with you before you try to do anything such as this with mailing a firearm... That way when the sheep start "bah"-ing you can cut them off with the correct answers that they can't argue with and save yourself some time. Alas I didn't do that the first time either.

My first situation with this was at a Mail Boxes Etc/UPS store. Girl behind the counter wanted to know if I was a undercover cop trying to sting her if she shipped it. Then when her manager said to ship the rifle she wanted to check that it was unloaded. The manager said from here on out they're on a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "Could be an ironing board for all I know, just ship the damn thing" he said. LOL... Works for me.

 

[Sisco]

Girl behind the counter wanted to know if I was a undercover cop trying to sting her if she shipped it.

I think that's the key here; paranoia. Unless your average USPS employee has the entire reg. book committed to memory, they probably aren't sure what the procedure is if they haven't done it before. No one wants to lose their job (or worse) because of dumb mistake.

My mailman has worked for USPS for close to thirty years, he's a shooter too. I asked him about mailing ammo to someone, he had to check with a supervisor to be sure. His supervisor told him I have to bring it to the counter at the post office and declare what it is. I'm willing to bet the person at the counter will have to check before accepting the package.

I went to USPS's website to look it up myself, an hour later all I came away with was a case of eyestrain and I really couldn't tell you what the regulations say about it.

Bought a Ruger 10/22 at WalMart a couple of weeks ago. They requre a superivsor approve the paperwork before completing the sale.
Guy at the counter caught the first supervisor he saw and asked her to do it. She did but reluctantly. She had only done it once and was understandably leery about putting her name on a piece of paper that could come back to haunt her if she missed something she wasn't trained to catch.

So call it paranoia, lack of training or in some cases it is a matter of "scared sheeple" but I think most people would rather not be hassled by the BATF because they made a simple mistake at work.

 

[280PLUS]

gee,,, i love the looks you get,,,

when you step up to any counter and indicate that you want to ship a gun...

unfortunately they all know me now so nobody bats an eye anymore

 

[Redlg155]

If he was out of state then you mailed it to yourself at his address then then later gave it to him personally as a gift while there, right?

Good Shooting
Red

 

[Jeff OTMG]

You can't mail ammo. It is on the restricted list, it can only be shipped. Also in publication 52 is a segment prohibiting a postal employee from interpreting the law, so if you ever run into a biligerent postal worker call a postal inspector and file a complaint. At least they will get written up, but, with any luck, they might lose their job.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Last trade I did, I mailed a Taurus .44 to a guy in, I think, Tennessee. (if you're out there, buddy, I'm loving my new Mauser. I hope you're enjoying the pistol.)

Took me several days to send it because a couple of places wouldn't let me ship it. I looked up Mail Boxes Etc., but when I got there it was some other generic shipping place. I went in and asked what it would cost to ship a handgun Next Day Air UPS/Fedex or whatever, and you'd have thought I put a bloody head on the counter. The counter lady immediately backed away and told me there was no way I could ship that gun on any carrier. I politely told her I was pretty sure it was allowed, but wondered if her company had a policy against it? She called the manager at that point.

I explained what I wanted to do to the manager, to which he responded that there was no company policy nor was one needed because it was against the law. I was getting a little irritated, but I was careful to keep my voice level and my smile fixed as I asked him whether he might fetch the regulation book so we could look, as I was pretty sure I was right about this but more than willing to find out for certain if I was wrong. I had a copy of the FFL to which the gun was to be shipped, but stupidly had not brought a copy of the law or UPS policy.

At that point, the manager lost his temper. He told me loudly that it was against the law and I probably knew it, and that I could "try to sell that line at another place, and good luck." At that point I'd had enough of him and left none too quietly. Didn't hit anybody, though, which I thought was pretty good for a man who'd just been accused of trying to trick the counter-monkeys at the flavor-of-the-month shipping company into joining my dastardly criminal conspiracy to ship a firearm to a federally licensed dealer.

I went home and called Fedex's 800 number, and was helped a great deal by a man who was totally unfazed by questions about shipping firearms. He directed me to a Fedex hub center which, as it turns out, was just as convenient to reach as the flavor-of-the-month MBE clone. At the hub center, they were cheerful, helpful, and accommodating and I got the gun sent off with no further problems. They, for their part, not only took in about $75 on the transaction but managed to make a competitor lose that much--just by being polite and professional.

 

[Moparmike]

Maybe I should have my Arabic friend try to mail my Mauser to me...

nahh, I want to keep my Mauser.

 

[CMcDermott]

Don

UPS has changed their shipping policies - now you have to take it to your UPS central shipping center. UPS is refusing to pick up firearms at any MailBox Etc. UPS store or other drop ship places. I am only using FedEx now due to this policy as the UPS center is across town from me, while FedEx uses multiple stations throughout the metro area.

 

[Standing Wolf]

In exactly two words: Federal Express. You might pay a little more, but if your time is worth more than $.25 per hour, dealing with professionals is worth the additional cost.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Bless Fedex!

True professionals, a pleasure to work with, I won't deal with any other.

(Long story short, they went above and beyond to track down my passport which was out for VISA and accellerate it's delivery so that I could catch my plane)

I wonder if we can nail the ATF with a lawsuit for "creating a hostile atmosphere", like some of the workplace lawsuits.

The spreading of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) and the legal minefields regarding firearms has just about everything to do with our current situation.