Shipping gun parts

[jojo]

Can parts, not capable of being assembled into a working firearm, be shipped via US mail to a NON-Licensee, from a NON-licensee?

To be specific, I have a KelTec P-32 lower receiver and magazine I need to ship from another state to to my residence. The upper slide and barrel are already here so the remaining parts are what I need to ship.

Any problem with that? I can't find anything on the BATFE site that says I can't, but the hero at the post office says that it "may be confiscated" if seen by inspectors.

Any help is appreciated.

jojo

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The receiver IS the firearm and cannot be mailed/shipped to a non-licensee.

 

[jojo]

According to the BATFE site I can ship the complete firearm to myself
(a non-licensee) in another state.

Also according to definitions I've read before in BATF handbooks the parts need to be able to be assembled into a working firearm to be considered such.

 

[Ringer]

According to the BATFE site I can ship the complete firearm to myself
(a non-licensee) in another state.

That is correct but not what you asked, or at least not how I read your question. Still you'd have to ship it to yourself using a private carrier not USPS.

Also according to definitions I've read before in BATF handbooks the parts need to be able to be assembled into a working firearm to be considered such.

I don't have any "quotes" at hand but everything I have ever read specifies that the frame, with serial number, is the regulated firearm. The slide and barrel on the other hand can be shipped around at will.

Other than having it shipped to a local FFL holder. I think your options are to ship it to yourself, or just transport it yourself. This is assuming you already own said frame and it's not related to some sort of purchase. Not what you want to hear, but......

 

[Oro]

everything I have ever read specifies that the frame, with serial number, is the regulated firearm. The slide and barrel on the other hand can be shipped around at will.

Exactly. This is how it is interpreted by the BATF and how it applies to shipping. As a quick test, call Midway, Caspian Arms, or other parts makers/distributors and ask them about buying a bare 1911 frame. The next step will be sending them an FFL copy for shipment.

As to shipping it to yourself, that is allowed by the regulations. It was designed for folks flying or driving to distant hunting locations primarily, where they mail it from home and pick it up elsewhere, and send it back the same way. You can mail via the USPS rifles and shotguns for this purpose, but not handguns. Handguns are not mailable by non-licensees via the USPS under any circumstances and that is stated flatly in USPS and BATF guidelines.

You are now left with going to a common carrier such as UPS or Fed Ex and seeing what they require for handgun shipment, and if they will accept a handgun from a non-licensee. As private carriers, they can (and do) set their own policies that can be stricter, though not looser, than the law. My recollection is they do not accept handguns from non-licensees even when shipment is from the owner and to the owner. But you would want to check that point with them at it is your only recourse to be able to do this.

There are stickies all around the handgun forums about shipping handguns, and what you want to read are about handguns and common carriers. You ARE shipping a handgun, not a part.

 

[jojo]

Okay that makes sense now, sometimes it takes a while

Anyway now I have an excuse to go back there and ship it myself.

Thank you all for the explanation.

 

[deadin]

This may be a silly question, but if you are going back to where the frame is, why not jusy carry it back with you? It would be cheaper and simpler.

 

[jojo]

I agree.

We, the wife and I flew to down south to pick up the piece that I had loaned out to a relative for undercover police work. He didn't have many guns and the smallest he had was a HK USP .40, not to good for undercover work. So I let him use my P32 for a few years, he finally quit the undercover work and passed my gun back.

I wanted to just do the airline thing and just put it in a locked case (checked) and fly back. My wife didn't like that idea so I took the upper half and brought it back thinking, wrongly so, that they could mail the balance to me.

So now here I am wanting the rest of my pistol, which gives me a good excuse to fly back down there and get it. I have some unfinished fishing to do in the gulf anyway.

I knew I should have just done it the right way the first time :banghead: