TexasCHLforum.com

I bought a gun online from a private seller last week and today I have found out that he shipped it with USPS. As far as I know in order to ship a handgun via USPS you need to be a FFL and I’m pretty sure he isn’t. To make matters worse he shipped me a little extra in the form of 200 rounds of ammo which again to my knowledge USPS won’t ship regardless of who you are. So I’m bracing myself for the worse, but what are the chances of this little bundle of joy actually arriving with my FFL? I have the USPS tracking number and it shows no record although as it only went on Friday afternoon that itself isn’t worrying me to much just yet. I guess the box will probably be scanned and then confiscated? Anyone have any experience of how diligent USPS are with this, or what the likely result will be? Of course with them being shut today there is no one to ask and this is now driving me round the twist. Of course I should have spelt all of this out to the seller, but I assumed that as a seller he would have done his homework and worked out the details with my FFL. I really hope Im worrying about nothing......BUT.............. Thanks folks

Maybe he shipped it through his FFL. I am not sure what penalties would be involved if an unlicensed individual shipped a handgun USPS. I wouldn't worry about it. The heat is on his end, not yours. Was the purchase made on Gun Broker? They will cover up to 500 bucks if the guy screws up and looses the pistol. I don't think the USPS scans every package that ships anyway.

Yes, twas gunbroker. I know that as my name isn't anywhere on the shipment that I am officially in the clear but i just want my gun
Nevertheless it's good to hear that I have some come back if the worse happens and in the mean time I will try not to worry about it......

Doesn't the receiving FFL have to verify the sending FFL? If that is the case, your FFL may be required to not accept the shipment from a non-FFL. Something like that. Just a thought. One of few.

Well I voiced my concern to the seller who assures me that he asked all of the relevant questions before he sent it and he was told by the USPS staff that they were no stipulations for a private seller sending a firearm with them. So I now know what the USPS website says and I now know what apparently the staff in Va are doing - I just hope that the latter are right and my box shows up!

casingpoint wrote:Doesn't the receiving FFL have to verify the sending FFL? If that is the case, your FFL may be required to not accept the shipment from a non-FFL. Something like that. Just a thought. One of few.

Nope...one would think it would be that way but it isn't. The receiving FFL doesn't have to verify anything other than who they are transferring the handgun to. They usually ask for a copy of the drivers license from the guy shipping the gun. But how they ship it is not the receiving FFL's responsibility.Postal regulations is what determines who can ship a handgun. Federal regulations require the gun be shipped to a FFL. I am amazed the Post Office took a handgun for shipment from a non-licensed person. I am even more amazed the post office allowed bullets to be placed in the package. If they knowingly took it for delivery, your OK, I suppose. I don't know how he would prove he declared ammo and a handgun was in the package when he gave the package to them. I know I would just let sleeping dogs lie for right now. I wouldn't want to draw attention to the screw up at the Post office before my gun arrived.

...and as for the USPS website tracking system -- I have found it to be extremely slow in updating. Don't be surprised if it doesn't even show your package being shipped until after it arrives. About the only thing their tracking system is good for is after-the-fact evidence that something was shipped.

ELB wrote:...and as for the USPS website tracking system -- I have found it to be extremely slow in updating. Don't be surprised if it doesn't even show your package being shipped until after it arrives. About the only thing their tracking system is good for is after-the-fact evidence that something was shipped.

That has been my experience with them also. Usually it tells you it has shipped and then tells you it was delivered.

Ok, I'll just sit tight and see if it turns up Wednesday. Thanks chaps

I do not think it is a violation of the law for a non-FFL seller to ship the item to your FFL. It is only the USPS' procedure that they do not allow non-FFL to ship to a FFL. I do know UPS and perhaps Fedex will ship from a non-FFL seller to a FFL across state lines.

Well it will be interesting to see what happens. The tracking number is still saying no record, but even with the holiday if it is going to show up it should do by tomorrow. Regardless a policy violation sounds a little friendlier than a broken law though

Carrots wrote:Well it will be interesting to see what happens. The tracking number is still saying no record, but even with the holiday if it is going to show up it should do by tomorrow. Regardless a policy violation sounds a little friendlier than a broken law though

No record is not a good thing. If an item has actually been shipped, it will show what date and time it was shipped. No record would make me believe somebody was pulling my chain or maybe gave me the wrong number.

I hope you bought from a seller with a history of good feed backs?

Well after reading that I nearly wet my pants.....BUT my ffl just called to say he is on route to pick up a package from my seller. So it would appear that I'm due for a happy ending

Carrots wrote:Well after reading that I nearly wet my pants.....BUT my ffl just called to say he is on route to pick up a package from my seller. So it would appear that I'm due for a happy ending

That is great to hear. USPS has the worst tracking system in the world. I have had many packages on my door step without the system being updated. This holds true even more so for Priority mail.

Tim