Mail-a-handgun: Trump administration pushes to allow firearms to be delivered by USPS - Los Angeles Times Under the proposed change, revolvers and other handguns would be reclassified as mailable firearms and subject to the same rules that currently apply to long-barreled rifles and shotguns — namely that they are shipped unloaded and securely packaged.
Could this make any gun control laws, local or state-wide, pretty much ineffectual?
Oh, I see. Mail a handgun but not abortion medication, huh?
You can already mail your pistol back to the manufacturer, I have done so. And they mail it back to you. I used Fedex, not sure about USPS. And you can get a C&R permit (Curio and Relic) and buy any permitted (older) gun mail order.
Well, um, you see, um, the thing to consider is, uhhhhhh, well, ok one is used to kill and the other uhhhhh
No, it doesn’t diminish gun control laws at all. A firearm has to be shipped to a licensed (FFL) dealer, not an unlicensed individual, and that won’t change. This simply allows handguns to be shipped via USPS just as long guns are every day.
As someone who has several handguns I plan to sell, this is welcome news.
I’ve bought pistols that were sent to a dealer, who made $50 off of it. If not by the post office, how was it sent for me to pick it up, and pay fifty bucks?
UPS, probably. Maybe FedEx. 100 years ago, the US Post Office was banned from shipping handguns sent by private individuals. Individuals had to use commercial shipping companies.
The only thing this proposal is going to change is it gives the public one additional option for shipping their handguns.
Thanks.
Is it possible the person you bought them from was also a dealer? It is already legal for licensed dealers to ship to other licensed dealers via USPS. I do it all the time.
All this new proposal does, as already stated, is gives non-licensees another venue to ship with.
Yes, a pawn and gun shop connected to the range.
That explains it.
I have paperwork on file at 5 different post offices. Every now and then we’ll get an inexperienced clerk that freaks when you tell them you’re mailing a handgun. But most know who I or one of my employees are.
I’ve done the same - IIRC at the time only FedEx was willing to ship handguns, but you had to clearly declare it. In my case, it was warranty repairs (mediocre pistol, good customer service and warranty) so they gave me a pre-authorized shipping label so very little effort on my part.
And of course, tying further into @mixdenny’s post, black powder pistols (most often cap-and-ball) and other classes of premodern firearms were shippable with minimal restrictions in most states, which was once a selling point for Cabela’s and the like.
I -think- this is mostly a political show - it’s not changing anything on a legal basis - if you’re purchasing online from a manufacturer or through an online auction site, you’re still doing the transfer via FFL but it might end up with a tiny reduction in cost for the shipping. If you’re doing some sort of illicit sale… you’re still leaving some sort of record of the shipping just like with FedEx.
So it’s the sort of political theater where they can say they’ve protected/expanded gun owner’s rights without actually having to do anything that might come back to bite them more than the status quo.