Shipping firearms in Texas: Legalities

[nathan]

Let say you buy a handgun or rifle from a private owner in TX. What are the laws to ship firearms inside state of Texas? I heard its legal you can ship a rifle direct to another Texas resident in another Tx city, eg, Houston to Austin. No need to send it to a FFL holder. How about handguns? Again I m not trying to start doing this, just asking if anyone here knows the state laws governing inState transfers. Thanks

 

[BobCat]

Sorry I can't answer your entire question, but there are a couple of things about which I am sure, having researched them.

1) You can ship a long gun inside the state of Texas, by US Postal Service if you choose (or other carrier like FED EX or UPS).

2) You can NOT ship a handgun by US Postal Service.

I do not know if you can ship a handgun within the state by another carrier; I believe you can but have not checked it out to the point of being certain enough to tell you it is ok.

The USPS web site has all the info on what guns you can and can't ship vial post office. The ATF web site has info on inter- versus intra-state transfers (basically, interstate has to go through an FFL, and intra-state is not covered by Federal law).

Wish I could give you better answers but that's all I know for sure.

Regards,
Andrew

 

[perdurabo93]

You can ship handguns via UPS or FedEx, but they require you to ship overnight so that will generally be prohibitively expensive. If its within the same state theres no federal LAW preventing you from shipping them a pistol this way, but Fedex and UPS have a private policy that requires they be FFLs, though to be honest the few times I did this there was never any requirement to prove the recipient is an FFL.

01 or better FFLs can ship handguns to other FFLs via USPS priority, all they have to do is fill out a special form to accompany the package. However, this will generally require a transfer fee to be paid on both ends of the transaction, even though its within the same state. You transfer to the pistol to your FFL, your FFL ships to the buyers FFL via USPS, buyers FFL transfers the pistol to the buyer. Two transfer fees and a USPS prority shipping charge.

Basically, theres no cheap way to ship a pistol, either interstate or intrastate. Youre better off doing pistol sales FTF where possible or asking the buyer to cough up the necessary funds to cover the transfer and shipping.

 

[wdlsguy]

Please see Texas Penal Code Section 46.06.

I might sell a firearm to another Texan sight unseen if they provided a copy of their Texas CHL and DL, no way otherwise.

 

[Jolly_Roger]

Please note that the provision of the Penal Code referred to says that an offense is committed if the Seller KNOWINGLY sells to a person who is ineligible. If a person was to be prosecuted, the burden would be on the State to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Seller KNEW the Buyer was a convicted felon, under 18, drunk, etc. As a Seller, the statute does not require you to investigate the Buyer's status - only that you avoid selling to someone you KNOW is not allowed to buy.

If you want to decrease your chances of ever facing prosecution, by all means only sell to someone who can produce a valid DL and CHL. But a whole lot of gun show transactions don't meet that standard.