Shipping a Gun to Yourself?

M

Model12Win

Moderator
Guys I have researched this some and have gotten conflicting reports on the legality and procedures of doing this so let me explain.

I live in Nevada, but am originally from Illinois. I take trips home a few times a year and would love to be able to bring one of my pistols along with me to shoot while I'm there.

I am not too fond of taking it on the plane, I hate dealing with TSA and all that stuff. So some are saying it is in fact perfectly legal to ship a gun to yourself in another state? Seems like much less hassle.

Is this actually legal? If so, what do I need to do to do it legally? Thanks!

M12
 
Yes....
From the ATF....
"Any person may ship a firearm to himself or herself in the care of another person in the State where he or she intends to hunt or engage in any other lawful activity. The package should be addressed to the owner “in the care of” the out-of-State resident. Upon reaching its destination, persons other than the owner must not open the package or take possession of the firearm."

But it is NOT cheap. Still need to follow any shipping laws for handguns and probably will cost about 70 bucks each way (that is just an estimate).

https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/0501-firearms-top-10-qaspdf/download
 
Frank Ettin said:
The problem is that neither UPS nor FedEx will accept a handgun from a non-FFL to anyone other than an FFL.
Click to expand...
Actually—for the sake of being comprehensive—FedEx and UPS won't allow shipment of any type of modern (i.e. non-antique) firearm unless at least one of the parties is an FFL.

The U.S. Postal Service WILL allow a non-FFL to mail a long gun—more concisely, a complete non-NFA rifle or shotgun—to another non-FFL, including him or herself.

The problem is that the Postal Service only allows a handgun or Other Firearm (i.e. a stripped frame or receiver, pistol-grip-only shotgun, or Title II firearm) to be mailed between FFLs and "Authorized Persons" as defined in USPS Publication 52; in a nutshell, authorized persons are LE/military/gov't. This is explained in excruciating detail in the "How to ship firearms" sticky under "General Discussion."

Given that out-of-state handgun and Other Firearm FFL transfers are prohibited by federal law, the end result is that it's really not feasible to ship these types of guns to yourself unless you intend to establish residency in the destination state, because they can only be legitimately shipped to an FFL, but an FFL can't lawfully transfer them to you unless you're a resident. :(

There is a minor exception: IF you are a 03 Collector or C&R FFL, you CAN lawfully assume possession of a C&R handgun in the destination state under most circumstances (i.e. this type of transaction isn't prohibited by state law). The problem here is that an 03 Collector FFL can't lawfully mail a non-antique handgun whether it's C&R or not, and UPS and FedEx mandate the use of their expensive Next Day Air services, so this usually becomes a costly proposition (e.g. $60+ to ship Next Day Air, or ~$25 for a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box w/insurance and a $10-$30 FFL transfer at each end).
 
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