Shipping Standard Capacity Magazines from CO to WV

[ethicalrelic]

I have a friend who is moving from Colorado to Massachusetts. He has approximately 20 standard capacity AR magazines that he isn't keen on taking across NY and into Mass. I told him to mail them to me in WV (still free), but he is concerned about breaking CO law by transferring them. From looking up the new laws, it does say that transfer of pre-ban magazines is not allowed. If he's mailing them to some place that does not restrict them, though, it seemed to me there should be no problem. Any thoughts?

 

[mgkdrgn]

I would think CO would be all about getting them OUT of their state.

Besides ... who would know? They mail diamonds parcel post because there is no way to identify them in the mass of packages.

 

[MErl]

He would be breaking the letter of the law. There is no written way for a non-FFL CO resident to transfer a mag >15 round to anyone, anywhere.

He could mail them from Kansas once he is no longer CO resident though (while moving).

 

[NavyLCDR]

So, pack them in a flat rate USPS priority mailing box, slap the correct postage on it, and drop it at the first post office outside the CO state border. Got to love the insanity of these laws!

 

[goon]

IIRC, unless the standard capacity magazines are dated before some date in the late 90's, they'll also be illegal in Massachusetts. Your friend should check on that too - about all I know about Mass. gun laws is that they're bad enough that I wouldn't want to live there.

 

[mbogo]

If he is driving, he can mail them to WV once he drives across the CO state line without worrying about CO laws anymore.

mbogo

 

[HOOfan_1]

IIRC, unless the standard capacity magazines are dated before some date in the late 90's, they'll also be illegal in Massachusetts. Your friend should check on that too - about all I know about Mass. gun laws is that they're bad enough that I wouldn't want to live there.

Out of the frying pan into the fire

 

[mbogo]

I read the OP to mean the current owner is divesting because he does not want to risk possession in NY or MA.

mbogo

 

[oneounceload]

He has approximately 20 standard capacity AR magazines that he isn't keen on taking across NY and into Mass.

Why is that? No one is going to have a full-search checkpoint at the border, he is just passing through.

 

[tepin]

I wouldn't worry about it. Ship UPS ground to new address and all will be fine.

 

[Grmlin]

Your friend isn't named Geoffrey by any chance?
As a former resident of Ma, I am sorry to here someone is willingly moving to the state. All of my sisters and my son live in western Ma and are the only reason I ever travel to the area.
It was suggested if they are driving to mail them once they are out of Colorodo. I knew they had inacted some arcane laws but giving away mags to someone in a different state?

 

[ethicalrelic]

Thanks for the responses- good ideas from MErl and NavyLCDR, extra thanks. mbogo is spot on....plus he has no ARs, and I do. My friend is finishing his service and his wife has been living and working in Boston for the past several years. He's not keen on Mass, but looking forward to finally getting to live with his wife. As far taking the mags with him, I understand that there will be no search point, but you hear the occasional horror story about the random incident... I can't blame him for not wanting to keep a box of jail time in his apartment. If he stays in Mass more than a year or two, I'll blame him for living in Mass.

 

[goon]

Nevermind.

 

[rcmodel]

Sounds like a box of 'machine parts' to me.

Or maybe the leveling blocks that go under the book shelf with the broken leg the moving van moved ??

Nevermind!

rc

 

[BSA1]

So, pack them in a flat rate USPS priority mailing box, slap the correct postage on it, and drop it at the first post office outside the CO state border. Got to love the insanity of these laws!

If he takes I-70 East he can drop the mags in mail in Goodland, KS.

 

[IlikeSA]

If he loses possession of them, he cannot legally ever carry them back into Colorado (for the time being). He may want to reconsider for the future.

 

[CoRoMo]

...pack them in a flat rate USPS priority mailing box, slap the correct postage on it, and drop it at the first post office...

I'll just add a note of something I've been dealing with recently as it seems to be a change in USPS's procedures. I've always used flat rate priority for a number of things and since I carry all the time, I stamp the envelopes/boxes myself and drop them in a USPS collection box and be done with it rather than set foot onto USPS controlled property.

Well, earlier this year, these packages began to be returned to me each and every time. The return sticker on them said that pre-stamped priority packages in excess of 13oz. must be handed to a postal/USPS contract employee or they are returned to sender.

Not a huge biggie for me I guess; I just take them to a contract location in a grocery store and hand them over there.

http://pe.usps.com/FRN/13_ounce_rule_Domestic.pdf

1.2 Pieces Weighing More than 13 Ounces
[Revise the text of 1.2, as follows:]
Priority Mail weighing more than 13 ounces bearing only postage stamps as postage may not be deposited into a collection box, Postal Service lobby drop, Automated Postal Center (APC) drop, Postal Service dock, customer mailbox, or other unattended location. These mailpieces are also precluded from pickup service. The sender must present such items to an employee at a retail service counter in a Postal Service facility. The Postal Service will return improperly presented items to the sender for proper entry and acceptance.

Just FYI if the OP or anyone was thinking of merely tossing it into a USPS bin somewhere.

Also... looks like +15 magazines are still an item on Colorado's ArmsList pages: http://www.armslist.com/posts/24110...magazine-and-one-30-round-circle-ten-magazine. I don't know who in their right mind would be offering to sale/trade +15 round mags here.

 

[steelerdude99]

I'll just add a note of something I've been dealing with recently as it seems to be a change in USPS's procedures. I've always used flat rate priority for a number of things and since I carry all the time, I stamp the envelopes/boxes myself and drop them in a USPS collection box and be done with it rather than set foot onto USPS controlled property.

Well, earlier this year, these packages began to be returned to me each and every time. The return sticker on them said that pre-stamped priority packages in excess of 13oz. must be handed to a postal/USPS contract employee or they are returned to sender.

Not a huge biggie for me I guess; I just take them to a contract location in a grocery store and hand them over there.

Scheduling to have your mailman pickup when he/she delivers mail solves this problem on priority or express mail. The don't seem to offer this service for parcel post or 1st class > 13oz. See link:

https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAPickupAction!input.action

chuck

 

[CoRoMo]

Yes, that's true.

I've actually handed my priority packages to a mail lady that was stuffing mail into a rack of community boxes in a subdivision. It did not come back and nothing I ever ship priority is less than 13 oz.

PM edit...

Probably not a new rule, but for over a decade now I've shipped heavy priority packages this way without a return, and only since about September of this year did I ever begin to get them returned.

 

[Frank Ettin]

I think we've had enough.