Shipping firearms

[bigkyle72]

I have never shipped a firearm before so I was wondering how I go about this? Does it have to go FFL to FLL or can I just ship it to an FFL? Also what is the going rate for shipping a long gun ball park?

Thanks!

[rromeo]

It is up to to the receiving FFL whether it needs to ship from an FFL or private party.
It's about $40 to mail a rifle across the country. It gets a little cheaper if it's closer.

[003]

A private party (non FFL holder) can ship long guns through the US Postal Service and both FedEx and UPS. Handguns can only be shipped via the US Postal Service by FFL holders. A non FFL holder can ship handguns via both FedEx and UPS. Under federal law a non FFL holder can legally ship their firearm to a FFL holder for service or repair. I do know of several competition shooters that routinely ship their guns and ammunition to themselves for competition purposes.

[bigkyle72]

Does it matter if Im selling the firearm? To clear things up Im selling a shotgun to someone across the country and was wondering If I could just ship it USPS or UPS or FedEx myself. I went to my FFL down the street and they told me they charge $70 PLUS shipping!!! I thought that was pretty high!

[rromeo]

No. You may get all kinds of stupidity from the counterperson, but it's fine. I suggest that you call the FFL that is receiving the rifle and confirm with them.

[003]

delete.

[mjsweims]

Does it matter if Im selling the firearm? To clear things up Im selling a shotgun to someone across the country and was wondering If I could just ship it USPS or UPS or FedEx myself. I went to my FFL down the street and they told me they charge $70 PLUS shipping!!! I thought that was pretty high!

As someone else wrote, the receiving FFL will say if he will receive a shipment from a non-FFL. If he will then you are fine to ship it. Get his ffl number which you should check on the atf website instcheck and only ship to the address shown on the site. Since this is a sale include a copy of your driver's license with the shotgun. The receiving ffl will need that to complete the paperwork.

If the receiving ffl will only accept a shipment from another ffl then you are stuck going to a local ffl. They can charge whatever they want for this service. What they do is enter the gun into and out of their logbook. Then they have to properly package it (and they are responsible for the packaging even if you do it beforehand yourself) then ship it. BTW if the buyer insists on going to an ffl that only accepts from another ffl you should pass your local ffl costs to the buyer - work it out with him. Remember this is California, the cost of doing business is very high, and local and state agencies are very anti-guns, so business owners must CYA. These costs are passed on to the customers.