Damn USPS...

[TN-popo]

So, I go to mail a shotgun to an FFL in AZ, from the PO in Smyrna.

USPS guy, "We can't do that."

Me, "Yes, you can. I do it all the time."

USPS guy, "Nope."

Me, "Please check your Regs or get the PostMaster."

PostMaster, "We can't do that."

Me, "Yes, you can. I do it all the time."

PostMaster, "Well what USPS employee did that?"

Me, "Not sure, but we had to break out the Regs that day, too." (He was two lanes over...I didn't want to get him an asschewing).

PostMaster, "Well, you must not have told him it was a firearm."

Me, "I did, that's why he had to get your Regs out and check them."

PostMaster, "Let me go check our Regs."

Me, "Thanks."

After 15 mins of waiting, "Where's the PostMaster?"

USPS guy, "He's busy."

Me, "Seriously? Give me my package back."

All this after waiting about 25 min in line.

As if I needed another reason to hate USPS...

Edited January 17, 2012 by TN-popo

[daddyo]

Do you have the receipt from the last time you mailed one?

[Guest vthokies03]

go back and ship some "golf clubs".

[Guest db99wj]

432 Mailability

Will that help you any?

[Dolomite_supafly]

go back and ship some "golf clubs".

You have to declare the firearm.

I would have asked for the postmaster's boss. I do it all the time when an employee is wrong and does not want to budge. And when their boss shows up I immediately ask how to contact their boss before I even start the conversation. Generally when the boss knows you can contact their boss they are a lot more receptive.

The postmaster is a very unprofessional person for using the "busy" excuse when they were supposed to be resolving a customer's issue. That is a tactic that shouldn't be used by a government employee. If he wants to use the tactic then he shouldn't be a government employee. I would contact the person who manages that particular branch and notify them you are filing a complaint against the branch. I would then make sure to actually file that formal complaint against the postmaster then let the investigators sort it out.

I knw people think this is taking it too far but this is how things progress, small increments until nothing can be done to change it.

Dolomite

[Guest nicemac]

432 Mailability

Will that help you any?

Exhibit 432.1 Mailability Requirements for Firearms

[TABLE=class: Basic_no_title]

[TR]

[TD]

Unloaded HandgunHandguns — e.g., pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person — are nonmailable UNLESS mailed by a licensed manufacturer of firearms, or a licensed dealer of firearms, or an authorized agent of the federal government or government of a state, territory, or district, and ONLY when addressed to a person in one of the following categories for use in the person’s official duties AND upon filing the required affidavit or certificate, as applicable (see DMM 601.11.1.3–7):

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

This section says you can't mail it (via USPS), unless you are a manufacturer, dealer or government agent…

[Guest bkelm18]

Exhibit 432.1 Mailability Requirements for Firearms

[TABLE=class: Basic_no_title]

[TR]

[TD]

Unloaded HandgunHandguns — e.g., pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person — are nonmailable UNLESS mailed by a licensed manufacturer of firearms, or a licensed dealer of firearms, or an authorized agent of the federal government or government of a state, territory, or district, and ONLY when addressed to a person in one of the following categories for use in the person’s official duties AND upon filing the required affidavit or certificate, as applicable (see DMM 601.11.1.3–7):

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

This section says you can't mail it (via USPS), unless you are a manufacturer, dealer or government agent…

Handguns cannot me mailed unless you're a manufacturer, dealer, etc. Long guns can be mailed by anyone.

[Guest nicemac]

Handguns cannot me mailed unless you're a manufacturer, dealer, etc. Long guns can be mailed by anyone.

I was stuck in handgun mode. Went back and re-read the OP. SHOTGUN, right there… sorry…

[Sidinman]

I sent a Hi-Point pistol back to Hi-Point, last year through USPS.

[Guest bkelm18]

I sent a Hi-Point pistol back to Hi-Point, last year through USPS.

An unlicensed person cannot ship handguns via USPS. We have to use UPS.

[peejman]

Print it out and take it with you.

"We can't do that."

"Sure you can. Here's the regulations that say so."

[daddyo]

Print it out and take it with you.

"We can't do that."

"Sure you can. Here's the regulations that say so."

You're assuming they can read.

[Oh Shoot]

go back and ship some "golf clubs".

You have to declare the firearm....

No, you don't. Only have to notify via federal law if it is going to a non license holder. BATF "faq" on site has always been dead wrong.

- OS

[TN-popo]

go back and ship some "golf clubs".

What I should have done.

Not because I want to fool anyone, but because I'm sick of dealing with idiot-Fed-gov-types.

I've worked for the gov for 20 years (military and LE).

Jeez, this gets old...

I couldn't care less if USPS went "out of business."

Anything that can't be handled by email could go UPS or FedEx, for all I care.

I know it won't happen but...

Rant off.

Edited January 17, 2012 by TN-popo

[Oh Shoot]

What I should have done........

If you'll print label and pay online ('Click 'n Ship), you just dump the thing on the end of the counter and out the door, no interaction required. You can do Priority with it, but not some other classes. If you have eBay seller account you can use PayPal to generate and pay any USPS class online and print the label.

Again, notification to any carrier is only required if you are sending to a NON LICENSE HOLDER.

- OS

[Guest dubaholic2]

An unlicensed person cannot ship handguns via USPS. We have to use UPS.

i thought ups was totally against shipping guns. i tried to mail a slide through them last year and they wouldnt do it... could have just been idiots working there.

[Guest bkelm18]

i thought ups was totally against shipping guns. i tried to mail a slide through them last year and they wouldnt do it... could have just been idiots working there.

Nope, UPS policy absolutely allows shipment of firearms. As OS pointed out earlier, you only have to tell them that the package contains a firearm if you're shipping to a non-licensed person. In any event, a slide is not a firearm. Only the serialized frame is considered the firearm.

[Oh Shoot]

i thought ups was totally against shipping guns. i tried to mail a slide through them last year and they wouldnt do it... could have just been idiots working there.

See Bkelm's response.

You shouldn't have mentioned firearm in the case of sending a slide, it is not a firearm. Actually could have sent it USPS, cheaper for something of that weight.

UPS will generally tell you that you must ship an actual firearm through their main hub. However, if you can generate your own UPS label (can open account through PayPal as seller or find someone else with one), you can dump it at any UPS store, no questions asked.

According to UPS terms of service, handguns must be sent overnight, long guns may be sent ground. Note this is not a law, only UPS rules.

- OS

Edited January 18, 2012 by OhShoot

[TGO David]

I thought I'd dredge this one up from the files and beat the dead horse a little more....

Today I went to ship an item that one of the TGO members had purchased from me. The item was too big to fit into one Medium Flat Rate box by just a hair, so I shoved two boxes together to extend it by about 3-inches, taped them together and then calculated my postage based off of weight, dimensions and destination ZIP code which came out to be more than the flat rate box would have required would one of them had worked. Again, I was paying more than the flat rate box required.

The doorbell rang this morning and I found my postal carrier standing there with the box in her hands and a pissed look on her face.

Her: "This won't work. These are two medium flat rate boxes taped together!"

Me: "Yes and that's more than one box's worth of postage calculated off of weight and dimensions. What's the problem?"

She stared at the postage label for a few seconds as if trying to wrap her brain around it and then blurted out "Well it just won't work."

Me: "Why the hell not? It's the correct postage I just used your boxes and improvised."

Her: "That's why it won't work. They are flat rate boxes."

Me: "You do realize that I can just take that, wrap it in brown paper, slap the same postage on it and it will ship just fine... right?"

Her: "Well... this won't work."

{sigh}

Me: "Whatever. You can pick it up tomorrow with brown paper wrapped around it then. This is why you guys are going out of business you know."

She just stomped off at that point and dismissed me with a wave.

I f'king hate our government's agencies sometimes.

[peejman]

Thanks... I needed a laugh today.

Why bother with brown paper.... just tape off the address and postage labels and rattle-can it.

[Dennis1209]

So, I go to mail a shotgun to an FFL in AZ, from the PO in Smyrna.

USPS guy, "We can't do that."

Me, "Yes, you can. I do it all the time."

USPS guy, "Nope."

Me, "Please check your Regs or get the PostMaster."

PostMaster, "We can't do that."

Me, "Yes, you can. I do it all the time."

PostMaster, "Well what USPS employee did that?"

Me, "Not sure, but we had to break out the Regs that day, too." (He was two lanes over...I didn't want to get him an asschewing).

PostMaster, "Well, you must not have told him it was a firearm."

Me, "I did, that's why he had to get your Regs out and check them."

PostMaster, "Let me go check our Regs."

Me, "Thanks."

After 15 mins of waiting, "Where's the PostMaster?"

USPS guy, "He's busy."

Me, "Seriously? Give me my package back."

All this after waiting about 25 min in line.

As if I needed another reason to hate USPS...

So... What can Brown do for you?

[E4 No More]

Anyone else see the commercial from the postal worker's union crying about the closures? Why does it seem that people are surprised when their actions have consequences nowadays?

[dats82]

Anyone else see the commercial from the postal worker's union crying about the closures? Why does it seem that people are surprised when their actions have consequences nowadays?

I don't know if it is the same commercial, but I saw one the other day that stated they run completely based on revenue derived from stamp sales. Amazing...

[Guest pfries]

I don't know if it is the same commercial, but I saw one the other day that stated they run completely based on revenue derived from stamp sales. Amazing...

If that is the case I don't contribute....

[dats82]

It is certainly not the case