Staff Member
Gold Lifetime
- Messages
- 21,692
- Reactions
- 62,705
I'll preface this by saying the only reason why I am entertaining the idea of dealing with USPS is that shipping handguns via priority mail is going to be much more cost effective than UPS/FedEx's overnight air. Priority is two-three days and will cost between $6 to $15, while most UPS overnights I've sent ranged from $60-110.
So, the ATF fellow I've been working with confirmed I can mail handguns, but left it as something to the effect of "Yes, you can, but that's their agency, not mine, so talk to them about what paperwork they want". Fair enough.
I visited the post office yesterday, ask to talk to the postmaster so that I could confirm all they needed was the "Affidavit of Addressee", but also to offer copy of my license, the recipients license or both. She flat out says I can't, only long guns, and those have to have the firing pins removed. She's wrong on both points and ignorant of their own regulation. I politely restated what is clearly in the mailing regulations and she said she'd research it and get back to me. I find a note in my post office box with a single sentence telling me to contact the ATF. Annoyed, I asked to see her again, told her it was cleared with ATF, explained yet again that this is dealer to dealer and is right on the USPS site. She says she can't find it anywhere on their site and asked for the numeric entry. I called her as soon as I get to my office, gave her the entry in their manual, and am told she'll call back to confirm. Though that was this morning, naturally, I don't receive a phone call, because that would require basic competence. Tomorrow I will try to get this lined up.
Question: if I continue to make no progress with this office, what is the next chain of command in the postal system that I can talk to? Being able to ship at relatively low cost is important to this particular side project. And, frankly, after dealing with multiple local, state, and federal agencies on this project, my patience with bureaucratic blundering is about up.
Thanks all.
So, the ATF fellow I've been working with confirmed I can mail handguns, but left it as something to the effect of "Yes, you can, but that's their agency, not mine, so talk to them about what paperwork they want". Fair enough.
I visited the post office yesterday, ask to talk to the postmaster so that I could confirm all they needed was the "Affidavit of Addressee", but also to offer copy of my license, the recipients license or both. She flat out says I can't, only long guns, and those have to have the firing pins removed. She's wrong on both points and ignorant of their own regulation. I politely restated what is clearly in the mailing regulations and she said she'd research it and get back to me. I find a note in my post office box with a single sentence telling me to contact the ATF. Annoyed, I asked to see her again, told her it was cleared with ATF, explained yet again that this is dealer to dealer and is right on the USPS site. She says she can't find it anywhere on their site and asked for the numeric entry. I called her as soon as I get to my office, gave her the entry in their manual, and am told she'll call back to confirm. Though that was this morning, naturally, I don't receive a phone call, because that would require basic competence. Tomorrow I will try to get this lined up.
Question: if I continue to make no progress with this office, what is the next chain of command in the postal system that I can talk to? Being able to ship at relatively low cost is important to this particular side project. And, frankly, after dealing with multiple local, state, and federal agencies on this project, my patience with bureaucratic blundering is about up.
Thanks all.