Shipping Long Gun for gunsmithing?

[kodiakoutdoors]

Is it required to ship a long gun via FFL just to have work done on it? I just want to send my rifle from Orange County to Paso Robles to a friend for a trigger job and muzzle break.

I went into UPS today and they said that couldn't ship it. I was told it had to go to a "gun shop." They did not use the term FFL.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[ke6guj]

ok, per federal and state law, you may ship a firearm TO an FFL for gunsmithing, without needing to use an FFL to ship it.

but in your case, you mentioned wanting to ship it to a friend. Is that friend an FFL?

12078(d)(1) Subdivision (d) of Section 12072 shall not apply to the infrequent loan of firearms between persons who are personally known to each other for any lawful purpose, if the loan does not exceed 30 days in duration and, when the firearm is a handgun, commencing January 1, 2003, the individual being loaned the handgun has a valid handgun safety certificate.

that allows for you to loan your long gun to your friend, for up to 30-days, without needing to do a PPT. Nothing prohibits you in CA law from shipping the firearm to him directly, and since it is an intra-state transfer, federal law doesn't apply either.

Now, when you mail it, you do need to comply with any USPS regulations. And if you ship it, fedex and ups may have company policies that require you to declare it, but they are not backed by federal/state law. If you do fail to declare a legally-shipped firearm and it is lost/stolen/damaged, you may have issues collecting insurance.

[Rob454]

Agree with this^^^^

[kodiakoutdoors]

Thank you for the info. I guess I have to find out what UPS/FedEx/USPS will allow.

Yes, my friend is an FFL. Great guy too. If anyone is in the Paso Robles area and needs anything look him up. It's Shoot The Moon Outfitters. Full service gun shop.

Thanks again for the shipping info.

[rp55]

My experience having used USPS/FedEx/UPS is that for handguns, FedEx overnight is best, and for long guns the UPS cheapest service is the best. There should be no markings on the box indicating that it contains a gun. They will cover them up if there are. This includes the address. By that I mean instead of shipping to "Steve's Gunz" you ship them to the recipient by name. You must declare that it is a gun and all that is best done at the customer service center where they have a computer terminal where you can enter all the data and print out a correct shipping label. You do have to use a UPS customer service center, you cannot use a UPS Store. Your experience and others can vary. I have had people ship me rifles via USPS because they have had positive experiences. I suspect that this varies locally with the attitudes of the people involved. My local PO thinks "guns=bad" while I have a suspicion that the guy at my local UPS service center is closet Calgunner.