quick question regarding shipping a rifle

[Altahick]

hey guys i have a quick question about shipping a rifle. i can contact the post office or fed ex or ups tomorrow, but i wanted to ask you guys on here first. i need to ship my m48 mauser to a buyer in so cal. what im wondering is, a mauser is c&r and i can ship directly to the buyer correct? or is it not c&r and needs to be shipped to an FFl? and what is the best to use fed ex or ups, not usps right? and do i need to inform them that i am shipping a firearm or can i just box it and tape it and send it directly to the buyers house? thanks guys im sure this has been asked plenty of times, but i just want a quick answer to my specific question without having to do a bunch of searching my internet connection is having a hard time with calguns right now for some reason. thanks guys

[Mssr. Eleganté]

You can ship a firearm directly to the buyer if all of the following are true...

- the firearm is a long gun (Yugo M48 is)
- the firearm is C&R (Yugo M48 is)
- the firearm is at least 50 years old (most Yugo M48 variants are, but some were produced up until 1965 I think)
- you and the buyer are both California residents (do you have any way to verify this?)
- the buyer is at least 18 years of age (do you have any way to verify this?)
- you have no reason to believe the buyer is a prohibited person (if he says he's not prohibited then that should cover it)

The biggest problem with shipping to a stranger is that it's hard to verify his age and residency status. If the buyer is 17 years old and he sends you a photoshopped ID then you will have committed a felony if you ship the rifle to him. When you sell face to face you can actually look at the buyers ID.

As for shipping, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and UPS all now require that an FFL be on at least one end of a firearms shipment. The only option for you to ship to an unlicensed buyer is the USPS. If you end up shipping it to an FFL then you can use any of them, but UPS, FedEx Ground and the USPS will all be cheaper than FedEx Express.

[smle-man]

I would never ship a firearm anywhere unless it was to an FFL or C and R licensee. It isn't worth the risk. You don't want to end up on the news.