USPS problem

[Matt85]

i have been sending guns threw USPS for years. as mentioned above the post office is just giving you a hard time. make them prove they cant send it!

 

[Billnpatti]

The problem is solved. The post office could not produce any regulation showing that I could not mail a muzzleloading rifle. Then the man in
Canada to whom I was attempting to mail the rifle, and who is a practicing attorney, looked up the applicable USPS regultions and the applicable BATF regulations proving that I can mail a muzzleloader through the U.S. mail. I took the proof to the local Post Master and he then approved my package for mailing. He said that he did not understand in our previous conversation that it was a replica of an antique. Not so, I was explecit in telling him exactly what I was attempting to mail. So he knew but would not allow it to be mailed until I presented him with the applicable USPS and BATF regulations. He then had nothing to say except that I could mail it. It is now on its way to its new home in Canada. :hatsoff:

 

[cynthialee]

Yay!

Sucks that you had to go through the run around to do something well within your rights to do. Mindless bueracracy stinks.

 

[rabjr]

My post office asks if its liquid or perishable...I say no and pay postage. Nothing else is ever asked or offered.

 

[gl1200a]

Only time I have been asked what I was sending was to Canada. Used motorcycle carbs that hadn't been used in years. Was declined.
Went to another local post office 10 minutes later, was asked what it was, told them "fuel air control valves." They shipped.

 

[ronrryan]

I say "replica antique artifact, shipping for repair". My cousin says" machine tool parts". We shouldn't have to say anything at all, but who wants to spend an hour with people in the P>O>
Good smoke, God Bless, Ron in FL

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I don't send very often, but get them regularly. Once a clerk said something to me at the window. Your package was confiscated due to it being an illegal item. The Postal inspector is here and wants to talk to you. I could feel that Oh manure! sensation all over. And then she got a big grin and said "Gotcha!" She knows I get a muzzleloader pistol about 4 times a year. She is also a neighbor.

 

[necchi]

Atta boy,
Well done Sir. Well done indeed.

 

[tripe1917]

I have had the same problem here in the DFW Metroplex area. I went to two different Post Offices and both refused to mail the 1851 Navy. One manager looked up the BATF ruling and noted the part about "for display at a museum" and refused to send it. At the second office, I talked to the manager after his clerks rejected the shipment and he told me not to state the contents of the package. I sent it through using his advice without issue. The only problem I can see doing this would be if the shipment is lost or damage, how would the insurance be handled.

 

[vtbuck223]

I also ran into this problem....only once...I insisted that it was legal and wouldn't go away...despite 2 people telling me that they couldn't do it...they said that it had to be shipped by a licensed dealer...I couldn't believe it because I had just shipped an antique ML out of there a week prior...eventually they found the regulation....which was on a piece of paper hanging on the wall...they apologized...but it was still irritating and disturbing that they didn't know the law...still...I was glad to educate them.

 

[cfmoviereplicas]

I know some states (New York for example) have to be FFL handled because they consider them modern guns. To get around the shippment issue and I have to admit I have done this in the past. I have shipped the gun in two pieces, Stock and lock on one day and then ship the barrel the next day. I am not shipping a complete firearm in the mail. I do however if I insure the firearm I do each piece for the full ammount of the purchase price because obviously its not good without the other and they still have the option of taking some of the insurance money to complete what they did get.

I had one and only one instance where a person bought a Hawken rifle from my wife. I shipped them the barrel and the stock separate. The barrel was lost in the mail but they got the stock and other parts. They filed an insurance claim and got the full $225 they paid for the complete firearm. they found a barrel on ebay for $80 and was able to pocket the rest. never had a customer happy about losing mail before.

But if you ship in separate boxes, then you are not shipping a complete and operational firearm and will not get any flack about it. As long as you are careful of which state you ship to.

 

[1911nutjob]

Careful with that one. If NY considers muzzleloaders to be modern firearms, you might land yourself in hot water. When shipping modern guns, the frame/receiver/serial numbered component is considered the actual gun under the law. If NY is structuring their laws regarding muzzleloaders under federal standards for modern firearms, you might be breaking the law unwittingly by shipping a "complete firearm" by sending out the numbered part, regardless of whether or not you sent the item in two or more packages.

 

[cfmoviereplicas]

I think I may have mistyped that. I dont ship to those states and was trying to give an example of a state that considers them to be modern firearms. What I was trying to make a point was when people try to ship blackpowder firearms that some postal offices will give grief over it and others do not. I just ship in two pieces where I am not shipping a complete firearm at one time.

 

[cfmoviereplicas]

Read the last line in the post.

 

[asbrown]

I have also shipped "machine parts" over the years with USPS UPS FEDEX. Websters defines a machine as (an electronically, electrically, or mechanically operated device for performing a task) :blah: :blah: :blah: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[jdkerstetter]

Here's what I am wondering and haven't been able to find out.....how does the state of N.Y., or any other state, have jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service? Seems to me they wouldn't. The Post Office is federal property and your mailbox is federally protected.

States have restricted the import of some items and company's won't ship the items there but I don't know that the post office will refuse to ship them.....or will they? :idunno: I haven't tried.

Thanks, J.D.

 

[cfmoviereplicas]

I just know that some states consider any shootable firearm a Modern gun and it must go through a FFL. You can probably ship to those states but it may get intercepted on the other end because you cannot expect every person to know firearm laws for every state and should be responsibility of the seller. I am just not going to take the chance.

 

[ihuntsnook]

I have received a couple of muzzleloaders in New Jersey by accident. More often I have black powder guns that I buy online shipped to Vermont or Virginia where I travel to regularly. I ship cap and ball revolvers out of state through the mail. If asked what it is, I answer "antique." Absolutely legal ship to most states, but don't count on the postal clerk knowing that.

 

[jdkerstetter]

....I am just not going to take the chance.

I don't blame you one bit there. I was just wondering if anybody knew the laws regarding the whole federal vs. state thing.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[nit wit]

You can also send modern guns back to mfg for repairs.
I retired from the usps, they make it difficult for customers and then they wonder why they are going under! :cursing: One of the old guys I worked with used to say: "all we have to sell is service". They don't know what service is anymore.
You could use ups, but you will have to educate them on the pre 1898 rule also.
Nit Wit