Post office refused to ship firearm

[Guns and more]

I once tried to send a book as a gift. I didn't want a return address as I wanted it to be a surprise. I was turned away without a return address and the USPS lady said, "We lost several people due to anthrax and we won't take a package without a return address."
Okay, I left because I didn't want it thrown in the trash, but I thought:
1. If I were sending anything dangerous, couldn't I simply put any return address on it?
2. The actual case of anthrax did have a return address, a school.
3. They didn't solve the case from the return address.
4. I don't doubt it is a regulation, but a silly one.

 

[GRB]

All you had to do was ask for the office Poast master - the boss. It would liklely have been straightened out, but you did just as well leaving. I would make every effort to still talk to the post master about it, and to get the clerk's name. Then report him to the post office HQ via registered mail. In addition write to your Congressperson about this. This guy should be dealt with for his attitude, and the threat of calling the police on you while you were doing something legal. Just my 2 cents, and as i said you did well going to UPS.

 

[hatchetbearer]

Why even tell them what's in the box? If they ask that stupid question, I just tell 'em "nope".

wouldn't this constitute a charge of perjury? I mean say asking if it was a firearm actually was part of the whole processing spiel and you said it wasn't, then it never shows up, or becomes damaged to the point where you had to file a claim, or they discover it to be a gun (x-ray machine) or the like, couldn't i be charged with falsifying records, or perjury etc?

 

[nalioth]

My local PO always asks if it's 'anything fragile, hazardous, perishable'.

I always answer "Only if you drop it on your foot." with a grin.

Never in any of my local post offices have I been asked about firearms being shipped.

 

[Cosmoline]

What's with the "or a firearm"? I have priority mailed dozens of rifles and have NEVER been asked if I am shipping a firearm by USPS staff.

 

[Zedo]

It's my understanding that you can't bring a firearm into a US Post Office -- boxed, unloaded or otherwise.

Also my understanding that you can't ship a firearm from a private party to another private party. One party in the shipment needs to be an FFL.

I've been wrong before, but that's my understanding about shipping firearms.

Private shipper, like UPS FedEx will ship from a private party to FFL / manufacture -- or from an FFL / manufacture to a private party.

Delivered parcel needs to be signed for. Contents need to be declared to the shipper.

 

[jdh]

wouldn't this constitute a charge of perjury?

No.

per·ju·ry
–noun, plural -ries. Law.
the willful giving of false testimony under oath or affirmation, before a competent tribunal, upon a point material to a legal inquiry.

 

[hatchetbearer]

What's with the "or a firearm"? I have priority mailed dozens of rifles and have NEVER been asked if I am shipping a firearm by USPS staff.

as have I, but I have sent, and received a couple of these "gun boxes" (long thin and fairly narrow boxes) in the last month. no mention of whether or not its a gun.

 

[armedandsafe]

I would have handed him my cell phone.

I was once accosted by a non-LEO at a store who told me I HAD to accompany him into the back office. I refused and he said he would "hold" me until the police came. I pulled out my cell phone and asked the wannabe if he would rather I call 911 and report attempted kidnapping, or the non-emergency number and report threats and harrassment.

That ended that conversation.

Pops

 

[armedandsafe]

Just found this.

http://www.cgwgun.com/shipping/usps.aspx

11.2 Antique Firearms
Antique firearms sent as curios or museum pieces may be accepted for mailing without regard to 11.1.3 through 11.1.6.

11.3 Rifles and Shotguns

Although unloaded rifles and shotguns not precluded by 11.1.1e and 11.1.2 are mailable, mailers must comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90-618, 18 USC 921, et seq., and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, 27 CFR 178, as well as state and local laws. The mailer may be required by the USPS to establish, by opening the parcel or by written certification, that the gun is unloaded and not precluded by 11.1.1e.

11.4 Legal Opinions on Mailing Firearms

Postmasters are not authorized to give opinions on the legality of any shipment of rifles or shotguns. Contact the nearest office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for further advice.

 

[Blues Brother]

This is complete nonsense. Call the office and ask to speak to the post master regarding a serious customer relations issue. explain the incident, the time of day, and what the employee looked like if you didnt get his name. Ask the post master WHY he denied you service.

 

[wingman]

Always speak with the postmaster.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Don't the regulations (or maybe it's Federal law) require that the postal clerk open and inspect the firearm to verify that it's unloaded? I'm pretty certain I saw that somewhere, maybe the BATFE FAQ. (Hmmm ... nope, not the BATFE FAQ. But I believe I saw that somewhere.)

 

[Master Blaster]

11.3 Rifles and Shotguns
Although unloaded rifles and shotguns not precluded by 11.1.1e and 11.1.2 are mailable, mailers must comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90-618, 18 USC 921, et seq., and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, 27 CFR 178, as well as state and local laws. The mailer may be required by the USPS to establish, by opening the parcel or by written certification, that the gun is unloaded and not precluded by 11.1.1e.

11.4 Legal Opinions on Mailing Firearms
Postmasters are not authorized to give opinions on the legality of any shipment of rifles or shotguns. Contact the nearest office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for further advice.

11.1.1e , 11.1.2 deals with SBR's and destructive devices, sawed off shotguns, full auto etc. They are not legal to mail unless you are a dealer, Mfg, military connected to official duty etc.

 

[hags]

I ship via USPS all the time. In fact I ship more handguns via their Priority Flat rate boxes than with any other carrier.
Once I educated myself and some of the staff I haven't had any issues at all.

Had you stuck it out and waited for the police you probably would have had to open the box.

I ship long guns at actual cost via UPS. It's easier, usually priced the same if not less and they have better tracking and I don't have to leave the house.

 

[senior]

can top that, My FFL and myself wet to P.O. to mail a handgun, all was fine but found out later clerk somehow sent gun to Mo. instead of Montana, 10 days later it showed up, but i n the meantime, had contacted postal authorities and one called Mo. to see if it arrived. Now the good part, station super. there on a three way call stated to my end that shipping a handgun was illegal even with aN ffl COPY AND if it showed up he would have inspectors confiscate the gun!! Gun was as i said, finally delivered, but as I stated, the station superintendant there was actually irate and insisted it was illegal and took 15 min of arguement before he finally looked up the regulation and admited he was mistaken! Not just clerks that dont know the law seems!

 

[akodo]

I quadrupleth the post of

CALL THE POST MASTER

these are OUR taxdollars at work OUR constitutional rights.

the post office has NO right to refuse to mail what by law we can mail (longguns) no more than an anthiest clerk could refuse to allow a muslim to mail a koran or a christian to mail a bible.

This needs to STOMPED ON.

 

[hatchetbearer]

as I said, I'll be polite myself, and give them the day they asked for to investigate said matter. and while I agree said clerk who my girlfriend informed me may actually be the postmaster himself (small town, could easily see him working the counter) should be given a new rectal orifice, Its not very professional on my end to be a raving psycho wanting an uneducated mailworker's head on a stick.and NOT the image a responsible gun owner wants to display for the "civilized world"

That and I have to look at my own personal situation. I'm a Poolee in the USMC and If I got into it with the Good ol' boy's sheriff's dept, and even though I am right it could end up with me seeing a matching set of bracelets for a bit, sometimes it's just better to leave and do your fighting over the phone with a clear head.

 

[hatchetbearer]

Update on the situation:

Got my call back from the postal inspector and the postmaster today and they did apologize, admitting he was in the wrong, and is being sent to a re-training session at his cost a little more stringent than what I expected but I doubt the same mistake will be made twice.

 

[ImARugerFan]

The UPS store shipped it for you? My UPS store wouldn't even ship out ammo, they made me take it directly to the hub. UPS customer service verified that this was the correct policy. Perhaps this is because the ammo has gunpowder in it and is considered explosive, and the gun is just metal, not inherently dangerous.

 

[kingpin008]

HatchetBearer - Glad they actually got back to you, and admitted the clerk was in the wrong. His punishment may seem a little harsh to you, but if I were threatened with having the police called on me for doing absolutely nothing illegal, I'd think his punishment pretty damn appropriate.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Once shipped a plastic rifle case by USPS, weighed about 5 or 8 lbs.
Woman clerk freaked out screaming that there was a man in the lobby with a gun..........8 patrol cars responded

Had me laid out like a spread eagled pancake......

After the police determined it was a empty one of the officers told the postmaster to take the clerk to the psycho ward, that she was way too paranoid!

Postmaster shipped the case free overnight!

 

[ErikS]

I believe a good response to "I'm calling the cops" in this case would be, "Ok, I'm calling your supervisor/complaint department".

If it was in this country I wouldn't trust our post offices with anything. If I got any choice whatsoever I ship it with some other service, so I know it will get there.

 

[hatchetbearer]

the big brown truck of happiness has delivered Ammo to my house many many times, Id be screwed if I had to send it to a hub, closest one is like 50 miles away.

If it was in this country I wouldn't trust our post offices with anything. If I got any choice whatsoever I ship it with some other service, so I know it will get there.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of advertising what I'm mailing, as stuff gets "lost" all the time. only reason why I said what was inside was I thought they had a change in policy and now it went into a secure holding until it got on a truck. But is the mail system in Scandinavia that bad?

 

[nalioth]

the big brown truck of happiness has delivered Ammo to my house many many times, Id be screwed if I had to send it to a hub, closest one is like 50 miles away.

UPS will deliver ammo anywhere all the live-long-day.

However, for you to ship it, you must take it to a hub ( not a UPS store ).